Kogyo High
by GiratinaTamer
Summary: Ty moves to a new town and goes to a new high school. There, he meets lots of new people and quickly makes friends and enemies. As he makes his way around the place, other people are going through what seems like the worst time of their lives and things fall apart. Who will get the happy ending and who will get the devastating one? (Includes Setosolace and a tiny bit of Merome)
1. Chapter 1 - New Friends

Kogyo High

**Ty's POV**

I stared up at the large building and swallowed. The sign said "Kogyo High", but I think they should have changed the name to "Your worst nightmare". I checked myself, making sure I looked good, put on a brave face and walked in through the front doors. After getting my sheet, I began looking through it. My first class was English. I walked down the large hallways, avoiding eye contact with any students or teachers roaming the hallways. I especially avoided eye contact with these four guys who looked about my age- maybe older. I could feel their gazes burning in the back of my head as I walk by. Then I heard them start to whisper to each other.

Oh yeah. I should probably introduce myself. My name is Tyler, but everyone calls me Ty for short. I've recently moved in this town with my mom since my parents got divorced. This was my first day at this school. I've never had any real friends back at my old school so both me and my mom thought that this was a big opportunity. I finally found my class and once I walked in, all eyes were on me.

"And you must be the new student joining our class. Tyler." The teacher said.

"Uh…T- Ty, please." I stuttered. I was definitely not used to being the center of attention. I was a nobody back at my old school. No one ever noticed me. I looked around. Some of the guys were looking at me funny while others looked disappointed. Most of the girls were looking at me disgusted and the rest were doing that flashy eyelash thing as if they were trying to attract me. I wonder if most of their reactions were because of my hair. My hair covered one side of my face. They must think I'm emo. I'm not emo, mind you.

"Alright then. My name is Mister Eigo. Ty, you will sit at the desk in the back of the room, right in the middle of those two students." He pointed at an empty desk in between two boys who seemed to be chit-chatting with each other. I walked over and sat, placing my stuff on the desk. I was no longer the center of attention as Mr. Eigo started up his lesson again. Although the two kids on either side of me were staring at me like I was some painting in an art gallery.

"Hi." The one on my left spoke first. "Ty, right?" He asked. I nodded. "Nice to meet ya. My name's Adam." Adam wore a grey shirt and dark grey pants along with black gloves and mahogany shoes that matched the color of my eyes. He had a golden amulet around his neck with a purple gem in the middle. He had dark brown hair with messy bangs and what looked like a rattail. What really surprised me was that he was wearing sunglasses. "And this is my friend, Jason." He pointed at the one on my right. I admit, for a minute I thought he was a girl. He had long curly red-brown hair with a small thin cowlick at the back and twinkling sky blue eyes. His skin looked so soft. He wore a turquoise t-shirt and blue jeans. He smiled at me.

"Hiya." He greeted.

"Hey." I greeted back.

Did I seriously already make new friends? Wow.

So for the rest of the period, the three of us just talked and got to know each other better. After English, I looked at my schedule. Next was Math. Adam walked up to me and peeked at my schedule.

"…Awesome! We have all the same classes together!" He said. "Come on! I'll lead you to Math class." Before I could say anything, he grabbed my arm and basically yanked me up the stairs. He was stronger than he looked.

Finally lunch came around and I found myself with my lunchbox, unable to find a place to sit. I heard whistle and saw Adam waving at me, obviously wanting me to sit with him. I walked over and sat in the space beside him. There were quite a few people at this table. Of course I didn't know any of them, being new here and all.

"So, Adam." A boy with medium sized pink hair, blue eyes and a pink vest poked Adam from his side of the table. "Who's the emo kid?" He pointed at me. I slightly glared at him.

"Oh yeah, I should probably introduce you all. Guys, this is Ty. He's new here. Ty, this is Kyle," Adam points at the guy with pink hair. He sends me a goofy grin. "Dar," He points at a guy with short orange hair and a cyan, white and light grey vest and gloves. He waves at me. "Tyler," He points at a guy with short messy brown hair and glasses. He wore a red and grey checkered hoodie. He makes a funny face for me and I slightly chuckle. "Brandon," He points at a guy with heterochromic eyes slightly covered by 3-D glasses and Skrillex styled brown hair. He wore what looked like a Hawaii shirt. He also had on long dark green gloves with light green stripes that went up to his shoulders, it seemed.

"Please call me Bashur." He grins at me.

"Jordan," Adam points at a guy with short dark brown hair and a green sweater. He waves at me. "And Sub." He points at a guy with short brown hair and a light green U-neck t-shirt. He looks at me and smiles softly. "Sub can't talk. He's a mute." Adam explained. I looked at Sub and he shrugged. "So as you can see, Ty, this school is pretty well known for having abnormal people in it." Adam explained. I took one long look around the cafeteria, looking at all the oddly dressed people and the people doing odd things. I saw a large group of kids chatting laughing about things. Two boys, one with a red and black checkered hoodie and one in a suit with some kind of animal hat on, were showing off for them. Another boy in the group, who was in a suit as well and had fiery hair, was laughing so hard, he almost fell off the bench. There was also this group of three at another table. One was a girl with dark blue-grey hair and fancy pink glasses. She was showing a picture to the other two who were boys. One was wearing a light blue monkey hoodie with a dark red tie and had short light blue hair and the other was wearing a light green lion hoodie and blue shorts and had somewhat long messy green hair. There were these two guys standing by the vending machine, chatting. One was wearing all black with an amulet that matched Adam's and the other was wearing a black and grey sweater with a long green tie and a black and white hat and short orange hair. I continued to look at all the different people until my gaze landed on four guys who just walked in from outside. I recognized them, but only a little. They were the same kids who were staring at me when I was walking down a hall towards my English class.


	2. Chapter 2 - Bulgarian Bullies

"I don't care!" I suddenly heard Tyler shout. He and Kyle were bickering about something, but I wasn't paying attention. I continued to stare at the four. They were all boys. One was wearing a white hoodie and grey jeans with short brown hair and green eyes. Another has coal black eyes and was wearing all white. A white shirt, white sweat pants, shoes and even white hair. The only thing he had on that wasn't white was a scarf which was a crimson red. It wasn't put on properly and it just hung limp around his shoulders. Another had an orange t-shirt with a big letter 'S' in blue inscribed on it. He had grey pants and black fingerless gloves. It looked like he had short brown hair, but I couldn't tell as he was wearing a green and dark green striped beanie. Finally the last one was wearing a black unzipped jacket, revealing the white shirt and a short yellow and orange tie. He had short dark brown hair and wore sunglasses. Suddenly Adam tapped me on the shoulder.

"Uh, Ty. If I were you, I wouldn't stare at those guys." He said with a frown. But it was, too late. I was now making eye contact with the one with the beanie. He glared at me before catching the other three's attention and pointing at me. All four of them were staring at me now. I had a sick feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. The one with the sunglasses smirked and they began walking towards our table. I heard Adam growl and I turned around to see him and the others glaring back at them. Tyler and Sub were slightly cowering. Then I felt a hand grab me by the back of my V-neck. I was forced to turn around and made face-to-face with the one in the sunglasses. The other three right by his side. He looked at the others.

"…Hello, Sky. Long time no see." He sneered. I noticed he had an accent.

"Martin." Adam 'greeted' while crossing his arms and looking as annoyed as ever.

"So who's the new emo fag?" His attention turned back to me. I gulped. They looked more intimidating than they should be. There was a long silence and I could tell one of them was about to hit me when Adam's voice came up.

"…Ty…" He mumbled. I was slightly afraid. "His name is Ty." Adam spoke for me.

"…Okay then…Ty…" The guy, Martin, as said by Adam, suddenly grabbed me by the collar of my V-neck. "Watch where you're looking. My friend here doesn't like being stared at." He gestured to the one I had made eye contact with. He looked super angry and he even cracked his knuckles.

"S- Sorry." I stuttered out.

"There. He apologized. Can you leave us alone, now?" Bashur growled. Martin chuckled. His laugh sounded funny, but I couldn't bring myself to giggle at it because I knew I'd get hurt.

"Not yet." He said. He walked over to Kyle who was trying to ignore him and refused to face him. The one wearing all white grabbed him and forced him around to face Martin. "Kyle, you know I'm still waiting for you to give me the money you owe me."

"I don't have it!" He blurted. Martin slapped him across the face, attracting a few people's attention.

"It's been two fucking weeks…! You have until Friday to give me the goddamn money or you're gonna be going where your grandma is." As if on cue, the one with the beanie shoved a hand into his pocket and slowly withdrew what looked like a pocket knife. Kyle's eyes grew wide with terror and he gulped. The four started walking off. "A pleasure meeting you all."

"See you around, emo." The in the white hoodie pulled my hair before walking away. There was a long silence, everyone trying to comfort Kyle. I asked my first question.

"Who were those guys?"

"One word: Assholes." Jordan groaned.

"They're just a group of bullies. They moved here from Bulgaria last year and they've been harassing and picking on people ever since." Adam explained. "The one with sunglasses is Martin, the leader. The one with the green beanie is Simon, the aggressive and most violent one. The one wearing all white is Baki, the sly one. And I think the one with the white hoodie is Pomby."

"Ah…" I slowly nodded. "…Hey, Adam. Why did Martin call you Sky?" I asked.

"That's my nickname." He said, quite proudly.

Suddenly a boy speed walked over to our table. He had blond spiky hair, shining ocean blue eyes, a black shirt that seemed slightly too large for him with a gold ingot in the middle, dark grey pants and black and yellow sneakers.


	3. Chapter 3 - Commotion

"Kyle!" He put his hand on Kyle's shoulder and he slightly jumped in response. He turned around to face the boy.

"Hi, Brice." Kyle greeted. Brice looked at him, worry and concern in his eyes.

"Have you seen Seto lately?" He asked. Kyle looked down and slowly shook his head. Brice cursed under his breath.

"You mean he still isn't back yet?" Adam questioned. Brice shook his head "Man, if he keeps this up, he's gonna fail this year!"

"He has the highest grades in Science and Math as well. It'll be a shame to see him lose that title." Jordan put in.

"So none of you have heard from him at all?" Brice asked. They all shook their heads.

"Not since last month…" Adam mumbled. Brice then looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"…Never seen you before…" He said.

"Oh yeah! Brice, this is Ty. He's new here. Ty, this is the amazing Brice. He's Australian as you might have already guessed by his accent. Brice is in the gymnastics club, is a Black Belt in Taekwondo and has the top grade in Art." Adam explained.

"Howdy, mate." He greeted.

"Hey." I greeted back.

"He's a pretty impressive guy. Even though gymnastics is kinda girly…" Kyle started. Brice elbowed him and Kyle rubbed his arm at the slight pain.

"So…if you don't mind me asking…Who's this Seto guy you're all talking about?" I asked. Brice's expression turned sad again.

"…Seto is a friend of ours. He's really smart. But lately, people here have been bullying him. Not just Martin and his gang, but other people, too. I think it might be because he's really into sorcery, black magic, witchcraft and all that stuff and people are shunning him because they actually think he's some kind of Satanist. Some of his friends left him and he was unable to get new ones. No one would come near him except for me, Kyle, Brice and some of his other loyal friends. He started getting depressed and it was up to us to cheer him up.

"And then he suddenly disappeared and he hasn't been to school for a month now. So we're all worried." Brice finished.

"You worry about him the most though. Is there something you wanna tell us?" Dar smirked.

"No!" Brice quickly replied. "I'm just a really good friend of his and I care for him. Of course I'm gonna worry. I've called him a million times and he never picked up. I've texted him a million times and he never responded!"

"Calm down, dude. We'll figure something out." Jordan reassured the Australian. Brice sighed.

"He would always have his face buried in a book. Most of the books I see him read aren't even in English."

"Hmm...Maybe he is a Satanist..." Kyle trailed off. Brice smacked him in the back of the head. "K- Kidding...!

**Vikk's POV**

Another day another dollar… Not that I get paid to go to school or anything. I just like saying that. So it was lunchtime and the gang was chilling and goofing around as usual.

"Oh what? So you would rather move to Florida than stay here with your friends?" Mat asked Mitch who just finished his story of wanting to go to Florida. "I'm hurt, dude." He faked a frown.

"Tell you what. If I win a lottery or something, I'll bring you jags along with me." Mitch joked.

"Yay!" Preston cheered. That kid was hyper today. "Or maybe you should leave Lachy behind." He smirked. Lachlan's eyes slightly widened. "He's too Australian to go to a place like Florida."

"Whateves. You're just saying that because you're jealous of the fact that I'm better than you in every single way possible." Lachlan stated. Preston fake gasped.

"Ooh shots fired!" Ashley looked up from her book and smirked.

"Kill 'em!" Rob yelled.

"Oh yeah? 1v1 me then! Fight me in a Hunger Games deathmatch! You won't!" Preston said.

"…Challenge accepted." Lachlan smirked and crossed his arms.

"My gosh, you guys are cray-cray." I stated.

"We love you, too, Vikky!" Preston hugged me, a wide grin on his face. I sighed. Ryan walked over to our table and sat with us.

"How come whenever I get here, Jerome is always standing on the table?" Ryan gestured to the energetic teen standing on the table. Jerome looked down at him and placed his hands on his hips.

"Well how come you're always late?" He questioned back sassily.

"I told you I have to help Jo-" Ryan was interrupted by Mitch's low growl. We all turned to him. He was glaring at something…or someone.

"Biggums. What's up?" Jerome asked the Canadian.

"Bulgarian assholes are up to no good again." He growled. We looked at the direction he was looking at and I frowned. That group of bullies were picking on Sky and some of his friends.

"Hey. Who's that kid?" Rob pointed at a boy with light brown emo hair, a white V-neck t-shirt with black rims, grey skinny jeans and purple wrist bands.

"Never seen him before. He must be new." Mat pointed out. We watched angrily as Martin and his gang walked away. A teacher walked by and told Jerome to sit back down on the bench and he quickly did so.


	4. Chapter 4 - Blind

**Ty's POV**

After lunch was over, I quickly had to get to my History class. I heard the bell ring and I was about to run up the stairs when I crashed into someone.

"Oh! I am so sorry!" I quickly apologized, picking up my binder and stuff. I slightly stood up after grabbing my stuff.

"It's okay…" The boy replied to me. I looked down at him as he was still trying to pick up his stuff. He wore a turquoise sleeveless jacket with a black t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, blue jeans and black and white sneakers. He had short dark brown hair and light grey, almost white eyes. He also had a dark grey, red and green headset around his neck. I noticed he was having trouble with picking up his stuff so I put my things down and collected them for him.

"Here you go." I handed out his stuff to him and he seemed to have trouble noticing it until his hand touched the fabric of his textbook and he carefully took his things out of my hands.

"Th- Thanks…" He said nervously. There was something off about him. I decided to spark a quick conversation with him.

"So what's your name?" I asked as I picked up my things.

"Noah." He responded. "And you?"

"I'm Ty." I said. He nodded. "So what class are you heading off to?"

"Uh, I forget. Hold on." He hurriedly took out his schedule sheet and I noticed how he didn't really look at the paper. Instead he ran his finger across and down the sheet.

Wait a minute… Was he…blind…?

"Um…I have Science." He finally answered. "Sorry… I- I gotta go." He speed walked past me and out into the hallway. I continued to run upstairs to my class.

**Gizzy's POV**

I stared at the Science teacher as he was about to close the door when Noah walked in.

"S- Sorry I'm late." He huffed.

"It's alright. Just try to keep up with time next time." The teacher said. Usually he's pretty strict with people being late for his class, but since he knew about Noah's problem, he would let him off with a warning. Noah carefully walked over to me and Brayden's desk and sat down in between us, sighing. The teacher began his lesson.

"Great job, Noah. You managed to get to your seat without tripping over anything this time." Brayden joked.

"Shut up." Noah muttered.

"You're later than usual. What happened?" I asked.

"Palmer ditched me." He responded. Brayden and I look at each other.

"Say what?"

"He wasn't there to escort me to the class. I had to get here on my own." Noah crossed his arms. Why would Palmer do that? Something must have come up. "I ran into this kid on my way here. He said his name was Ty. Know him?"

"Never heard of him." Brayden answered. I shook my head as my response. I suddenly heard a faint cough and I turned my head to the direction it came from. It came from the table that the triplets were sitting at. They like to call themselves the Finest. They looked exactly the same except for their hoodies. They all had short brown hair and extremely dark brown eyes and grey jeans. One had a grey hoodie with purple highlights His name was Max. Another had a lighter grey hoodie with blue highlights; He was Jordan. The final boy had a black hoodie with red highlights; He was Danny, the leader. Jordan coughed a few times before sniffling. He probably had the flu or something. A down thing about this school is that a lot of illnesses are passed on around here.

Once the teacher gave us our assignment, which was to figure out the boiling point of an ice cube, I stood up to get the supplies. Half way in the experiment, the triplets walked over to our table.

"How come you guys' ice cube is melting faster than ours?" Max whined.

"Uh, because our sexiness adds to the heat." Brayden joked. Noah nodded in agreement.

"Be careful. Keep an eye on your ice." I warned.

"Don't worry. We're professionals at this." Max said. I rolled my eyes. Jordan coughed again.

"Hey man, you feelin' alright?" Brayden asked.

"I'm fine. It's just a minor cold." Jordan coughed again.

**Brice's POV**

After school was over, I hopped into my dad's car and we headed off back home. Once there, I ran upstairs to my room and took out my sketchbook. Before drawing, I grabbed my phone and texted Seto for the millionth time. The fact that Seto has been missing for a month has been affecting me more than I thought. I would have trouble falling asleep, I don't eat as much and I space out A LOT. I even got in trouble a few times for falling asleep in class because of my lack of sleep. After texting something to Seto as well as my friend, Breny, I took a pencil and began drawing. I drew a rose. A purple one. It represented Seto. I was a huge fan of the RPG game 'Ib' and I would always draw roses of different colors that matched the personality or aura of a friend.

The next day I had French as my first class. I would enjoy French except I shared the class with Pomby. As I walked in, I saw him sitting at the back of the class, throwing crumpled up papers at some girl. The teacher gave us assigned seats and thankfully I sit at the front, on the exact opposite side of Pomby. A woman I've never seen before walked into the class

"Hello class. I am your substitute, Miss Anthea." The woman said. She talked a little bit about herself before role calling. I was staring out the window, as if expecting to see Seto pop up. The next thing I knew, my eyes were shut and I was about to doze off when she finally got to my name. "…Brice." My eyes shot open.

"…Oh, uh…Here…" I stammered as I blinked.

"…Excuse me, Brice. You seem to be dozing off. Would you like for me to send you to the reflection room so you can sleep?" She asked me. I tried to come up with a clever excuse, but Pomby's voice shot up.

"Don't worry about him. He's just having wet dreams about his boyfriend!" He sneered from the back of the room. My face turned bright red and the class burst into a fit of giggles. Miss Anthea tried to calm the class down.


	5. Chapter 5 - Angry Midget

Ty's POV

I walked out of my classroom, checking my schedule when I bumped into someone.

"Kheĭ!" He said. My eyes widened with panic when I saw who it was. Simon. "Watch where you're going, bitch!" He grabbed me by my V-neck and slammed me into a locker. The hallway was crowded with people rushing to their lockers and classes. Not too many people noticed us.

"I am so sorry! Please let me go! I- I don't wanna be late!" I stammered.

"We went easy on you last time. You're not getting away with it this time. If you pay me then I'll consider letting you go." He said. I swallowed.

"I- I don't have a- any money on me right n- now…" I said nervously. He growled and I thought fast. "D- Do you want anything else?" There was a pause before he smirked.

"I want…those headphones…" He stared at the black headphones with a light green glow around my neck. I should have thought this through.

"Uh…Y- You can't have those…"

"Why not?" He became angry again, his accent becoming slightly thicker with his rage. "I want them."

"Well I don't want to give them to you!" I blurted out. He instantly punched me in the side of the face and I slid down the locker and onto the cold floor. He was about throw a kick at me when a voice stopped him.

"Come on, Simone. Leave him alone." The voice was laced with an Australian accent. But it wasn't Brice's voice. Simon turned around and I looked up to see a short haired blond in a dark red hoodie, sneakers and black jeans. He had baby blue eyes that almost seemed to pierce through Simon's forehead.

"Oh great. You again." Simon snarled.

"What did that kid ever do to you anyway?" The boy asked.

"He got on my nerves…"

"Everyone gets on your nerves, Simone. You have the shortest temper ever."

"Quit calling me that, you dumb blond!"

"What's wrong with Simone? I think it suits you well with your…feminine posture." He smirked.

"You little…!" Simon clenched his fists so tightly that it looked like his nails were cutting through the fabric of his gloves and digging into his palms.

"Oh? You're calling me little? I'm not the one whose parents had to buy two booster seats for me." A kid nearby who was watching made an 'Oooh' sound. "Like seriously, dude. You're literally the definition of the word midget. How does your mom manage to bend down so low in order to give you a kiss on the forehead? That is…if she even does kiss you…" The boy snickered. Simon's face was boiling red and his eyes were swollen with rage. He yelled as he flew his fist towards the boy. To my amazement, he dodged it with ease. The boy swiftly grabbed Simon's arm, completely spun him around and gave him a great big shove. Simon tripped and fell before quickly getting up and turning to face the blond. His face was still red although I think some of it was from embarrassment.

"I swear I'm going to fucking slaughter you!" He roared before charging at the boy who easily dodged again. This time, he grabbed both of his arms, locked them together and slammed Simon's face into the wall. Simon groaned from the pain and slight suffocation as he was being pushed into the wall.

"You gonna give up yet, dolphin boy?" The boy asked.

"Fuck you…" Simon growled weakly, his voice slightly muffled from his face being squished against the wall.

"I'm pretty sure that's asshole language for 'yes'." He let go of Simon and he wobbled a bit, but didn't fall down. He grabbed his forehead in pain and glared at the boy. He then glared at me which sent a chill down my spine. His eyes, which were almost red with rage, burrowed a hole right through my skull. I could almost hear him saying 'This isn't over!' in my mind. And with that, Simon stormed off. "…You alright, mate?" The boy walked over to me and reached a hand out for me to grab. "That's a quite a bruise." I gingerly touched the left side of my face where Simon had punched me and I felt a sore bump on my cheek.

"I- I'm alright." I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. "That was amazing! You totally saved me and kicked his ass!" I said.

"Don't mention it kid. My friends and I have got quite the history with that guy and his three pals. My name's Lachlan by the way."

"I'm Ty."

"I've seen you getting picked on by those assholes at lunch yesterday. Didn't recognize you…"

"Oh I'm new here." I picked up all my stuff that was scattered across the floor. There weren't any people around anymore. The hall started clearing once Lachlan had showed up. He nodded.

"Makes sense. My friends and I basically know everyone at this school." I suddenly remembered his face.

"Oh yeah. I've seen you. You were hanging out with that group of people at lunch yesterday." He nodded again.

"That would be me. But don't worry. We're not assholes. At least that's what we like to think." Lachlan stated. I chuckled slightly.

"…Well I should probably be going now."

"Right. See you later, Ty. And don't be shy to come and say hi at lunch." He said as he walked off down the hall and disappeared down the stairs. I hurriedly got to my Science class.


	6. Chapter 6 - Search for Kyle

**Kyle's POV**

During lunch, Ty had told us about his story with Simon and one of the popular kids, Lachlan.

"That's awesome!" Adam exclaimed.

"Hey Ty." I poked Ty's shoulder. "I was wondering if you'd like to be partners for the Science project." Ty and I were in the same Science class and we had a project where we had to make a poster explaining a bunch of scientific stuff about an animal or plant of your choice.

"That sounds great." Ty said happily.

"So I was thinking that maybe I could come over to your house tonight at around seven."

"Sure. You remember my address?"

"I put it down on my phone." I explained. "It isn't too far from my house. I can just walk there." I turned to Adam. "No hard feelings, Adam?" He looked at me, confused. "I mean I don't want you to think that I'm trying to steal your boyfriend or anything." Tyler snorted. Jordan choked on his milkshake. Bashur lost it. Both Ty and Adam sent a quick glare at me before shuffling uncomfortably and trying to avoid eye contact with each other. I smirked in triumph.

I just made them feel awkward. Aren't I the greatest friend?

So after school was over that day, I walked over to Ty's house. I had to walk through a small park. The park was located in a small forest, surrounded by civilization. It was absolutely gorgeous in the fall as all the leaves would show off their reds, oranges and yellows. I slightly frowned as a memory picked at my mind. This was the park that Seto and I would always go to whenever we hang out after school. I missed him.

It was close to 7:00pm when I arrived at his place. I knocked on his door and waited until he answered.

"Hey Kyle."

"Hey there, buddy." I let myself in, not caring about guest rules and all that crap. "You sure your mom's cool with this?" I asked.

"It honestly wouldn't matter if I told her or not that you were coming over. She's at work all night long and you'll be gone by the time she comes back." He explained as I took off my shoes and coat. He led me upstairs to his bedroom where a variety of things that we'll need for the project were set up on the floor. "So," Ty walked over to his computer desk and grabbed a paper that had a picture of a cat on it. "Shall we get started?"

"You wanna do the project on cats? Sure."

We began writing down information on the bristle board and printing and drawing pictures to stick to it. Halfway through, I noticed how quiet we were and so I sparked up a conversation.

"…Hey, Ty…Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"If you're not emo, how come you have the hairstyle?" He looked at me, slightly annoyed.

"What? I'm not allowed to have the hairstyle? I don't have to be emo to have the 'emo' hair. I like it. I actually used to be a skater when I was younger and I thought the style would fit." He explained. I shrugged. "Now can I ask you a question? How come you always wear pink?" I shot him a glare.

"This is not pink! It's magenta!" I retorted.

"Okay fine. Magenta." Ty corrected. I huffed.

About twenty more minutes rolled by until we finally finished.

"It is complete~!" I sang as Ty began putting the extra supplies away.

"Great. Thanks a lot, Kyle, for letting me do the project with you."

"Don't mention it. Besides, if you teamed up with Adam, you two would probably be on his bed, naked in each other's arms right now." I joked. Ty face palmed.

"Sometimes I really wanna hit you." He grumbled. I grinned.

"Love you, too, sweetie."

**Ty's POV**

Once Kyle left, I decided to watch something. I sat on my bed with my laptop open, watching Attack on Titan. After a while, I texted Kyle to see if he made it back safely. He never replied, but it was around 11:30pm so he was probably asleep. Just before I started dozing off on my bed, my phone made the sound that someone had texted me. I grabbed it, hoping that it was Kyle. It was Adam. His username was SkythekidRS. Mine was Deadlox. This was our conversation:

SkythekidRS: Hey have you seen Kyle? He was supposed to play with me on a Minecraft server…

Deadlox: Haven't seen him since he left my place after we finished our project. Maybe he forgot and went to bed or something came up? :/

SkythekidRS: Maybe…I'll try calling his parents.

Deadlox: kk

He didn't reply to me after that until a few minutes later. I stared at my phone, reading the text message.

SkythekidRS: He's not there! His parents don't even where the fuck he is either!

My heart froze. Had something happened to him on his way back home?

Deadlox: Shit! I think something might have happened to him on his way back home!

SkythekidRS: Well fuck what do we do?!

Deadlox: Meet me at Biome Park. And bring a flashlight. We can try and find him.

I put my phone in my pocket and ran out. I told my mom where I was going and put on my shoes and a coat. I grabbed the flashlight from a drawer and headed out.

Once there, I found Adam sitting on a bench, waiting for me.

"So is this where Kyle walked through to get to your house?" He asked. I nodded.

"It's a good place to start than any." I turned on my flashlight and he did the same.

"Should we split up?"

"No. I think it would be safer if we stuck together."

So we searched through the main areas of the park, but no luck so we started going deeper into the forest. The dead leaves and branches crunched beneath our feet, sometimes making me jump. I shone my flashlight in various directions. Adam yelped and I almost shit myself.

"What?" I questioned. Adam was frozen, his flashlight pointing to a large tree. Then he shook his head and smiled.

"My bad. I thought I saw something, but it was just a squirrel." He scratched the back of his neck. I punched him lightly.

"You scared the shit out of me."

We continued searching for another ten minutes or so until we decided to give up.

"No luck here." Adam mumbled. "Let's go search somewhere else." He turned around and started walking off. I turned around and was about to follow him when my flashlight caught something.

"…Hey, Adam. Check this out." I leaned down and he walked back and leaned down next to me. I pointed at the distorted path of dead leaves. "Someone was dragged here. You can tell by the leaves being crushed and the exposed dirt having a scrape to it." I explained. Adam looked closer and slowly nodded.

"So all we have to do is follow the trail. But which way?"

"Well we came from there and we didn't see anything so I guess we go this way." I pointed in the direction. We walked, following the barely visible trail. I was staring at the trail, making sure it didn't disappear on us so I was surprised when Adam suddenly stopped and gasped. I was about to ask what when I looked for myself. My heart dropped. In front of us was a tall tree and at its bottom, lay Kyle's body, motionless, on the ground. I could see wounds on his shoulders from where I stood. Splatters of blood stained the leaves and ground around his motionless body.

"Kyle!" Adam and I ran over to him and made him sit upwards. His head flew back against the tree, his eyes swollen and shut. There were cuts along his cheeks and forehead and dry blood stained the skin below his nose. His mouth was slightly open, revealing a missing tooth. His knees were slightly slit. There were a few stab marks on his body, one incredibly close to his heart, which got us worrying like crazy. "Kyle can you hear me? Please wake up!" Adam pleaded. There was no response from the pink haired male. I cursed under my breath. "Come on! Let's carry him to the hospital!" He exclaimed. I wasn't really strong and I doubt I could help carry him, but to my shock, Adam managed to pick his entire body up by himself. He carried him bridal style and began speed walking out into the main park area. I followed close behind.

"Hello? Anyone hear us? We need help!" I shouted out to anyone who may be close by.

"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice responded. The beam of a flashlight fell onto the two of us and I slightly squinted my eyes. A boy with a grey sweater, black pants, jet black eyes and medium black slightly curly hair appeared seemingly out of nowhere and walked towards us. He held the flashlight in his hands.

"Gizzy!" Adam exclaimed.

"Adam? Is that you?" The boy, Gizzy, stood there. He had a British accent. His gaze moved to me, but then quickly locked onto Kyle's motionless body in Adam's arms. "Kyle?!" He gasped.


	7. Chapter 7 - Encounter

**Gizzy's POV**

I stared at my friend's motionless body in utter terror.

"Wh- What happened to him?" I shakily asked. "It looks like he was attacked by a wild dog or something…" Adam shook his head.

"He has a couple stab wounds. It was a person." Adam explained.

"I'll call an ambulance!" I exclaimed. I took out my cellphone and dialed 911.

I sat in my chair, impatiently and nervously tapping my finger on the arm. Adam was pacing, unable to sit still. He had called Kyle's parents telling them what happened. The two sat in the chairs next to me. The boy I didn't recognized sat on the other side of me, twiddling his thumbs.

"When I find out who did this to Kyle…" Adam silently growled. A nurse walked out of the room Kyle was in and gave a soft smile.

"Mr. Comics is alive, but will be unconscious for a bit. He'll be here getting treated for about two weeks." The nurse explained Kyle's condition and his treatment to his parents. Adam, the boy and I sighed with great relief. He was alive. After having that wave of relief wash over me, I decided to ask the boy his name.

"I've never seen you before…Are you new around here?" I asked him. He nodded.

"I'm Ty."

"Ty? Are you perhaps that boy who bumped into my friend, Noah, earlier today at school?" He thought for a moment.

"Yeah. I think."

"Well my name's Gary, but please call me Gizzy. Or Gazza. Whichever one works for you." I shook his hand. Ty seemed to hesitate. I could tell he was about say something when another nurse walked in.

"Mr. Rogers?" She asked. Ty instantly looked at her. "Your mother is here to pick you up." She explained.

"Oh. I gotta go." Ty stammered, grabbing his coat and flashlight. He waved to us and exited the hospital.

"…So can I ask why you were in the park so late at night?" Adam asked me after a couple minutes of silence between us.

"Believe it or not, I thought I had heard a faint scream coming from there. I think it might have been Kyle's scream when I think about it, but it was too faint for me to figure it out back then. Later on, I got kinda worried. So I headed out there to do a quick look around the park and that's when I found you and Ty with Kyle's body." I explained. I looked down at my feet. "…I…I didn't think it would be something this tragic… If only I had went to look sooner…" I felt a wave of guilt hit me.

"Don't you dare even think about blaming yourself. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway. Even if you had managed to see who did this to him, they might have fucking killed you." Adam said sadly. "And…And I would never ever be able to forgive myself if two of my friends got injured like this…" I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Sky. Things like this happen. Everything'll get better." I tried to cheer him up. He smiled weakly.

Everything will get better.

Right?

**Ty's POV**

The weekend went by fast and it was already Monday. I looked around the cafeteria, didn't see Adam or any of his friends. I looked around for Lachlan and his group, but saw none of them either. Eventually I gave up searching and decided to go for a stroll outside. I took one last look around and walked out, not paying attention to the various teens standing around and talking about video games and stuff. I took out my iPod and put my headphones on. I headed off towards the back area of the school where there weren't many people around and then I bumped into someone. I took my headphones off.

"Sorry about tha-" My face went pale as I realized who it was. Of course I had run into none other than Martin. I swear I had the worst luck. I swallowed hard as he stared at me in disgust.

"Oh…It's you again." He sneered. "Heard you got into a bit of trouble with Simon on Friday. But then Mister Gay Aussie came in and saved your sorry ass." I knew he meant Lachlan when he said that.

"Why do people like you always have to call people gay as an insult?" I questioned. He gave me a stupid look and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with his foot on my chest.

"I'm sorry; did I say you could talk?"

"It's a free country…" I wheezed out. I don't know why I was talking to him like this. Something about the fact that he wasn't accompanied by the other three- especially Simon- made him seem less…intimidating.

"Smartass, eh? I hate your kind the most." He stomped on my stomach hard and I coughed and wheezed. I weakly tried to get up, but he kicked me, aiming at my stomach again. He kicked me again and again until I was lying on the ground, throwing up my breakfast. I groaned and held my throbbing stomach in pain. Martin hovered over me. "…You know I would just love to do the same thing to you as I did to that pink guy." He murmured.

Pink guy…? …! Kyle!

"…Y- You did that to him…?" I croaked. He paused before shrugging.

"I guess I did."

"You…You sick…!" I somehow managed to get up and glared at him. He grinned like shark. "What did he do to deserve something like that?" I hissed.

"He owed us money and never gave it to us so we had to take matters into our own hands. That faggot isn't the first one to do this to us and end up in the hospital, if that makes you feel any better." I growled, gritting my teeth. "No need to be all mad like that, little man. I put him where he belonged. He was just another drooling imbecile, spreading his stupidity all around the schoo-" There was a loud sound that I had never heard before. Martin suddenly started stumbling backwards; his sunglasses had fallen off of his face. I stared down at my fist which started throbbing slightly and what happened hit me.

I punched Martin.

In the face.

Martin fell to the ground and looked up at me. His eyes almost looked like they were changing colors with his changing emotions. He hurriedly put his sunglasses back on and he gritted his teeth. He stood up, grabbed me by my shirt collar and pushed me against the brick wall of the school. My feet were like three centimetres off the ground. "Listen here, dipshit." His voice was dangerously low. "If you tell anyone what you just did to my face, you'll be going straight where Kyle is… You might think you're all cool and shit, but you're just like everyone else in this world: a waste of fucking air. And you're never gonna be anything more. Got it?" He snarled and I nodded fast. I was terrified. He let go of me and I fell to the ground. I tried to regain my breath as he stormed off.

"Holy shit! Ty, are you okay?" I heard Tyler's voice. Tyler ran over to me, followed by a girl in a white hoodie, black shorts and long orange hair. He reached out a hand to me and I grabbed it, pulling myself up. "We saw Martin pin you up against the wall!"

"I'm okay. Just a little bruised up."

"Wow. Is that yours?" The girl pointed at the spot of pavement that was stained with my vomit. I slowly nodded. "Jeez. How hard did he beat you up?"

"He just kicked me a bunch of times in the stomach. That's all really." I clenched my stomach as the familiar pain returned.

"Well, Ty, this is my girlfriend, Shelby." Tyler gestured to the girl. She smiled at me, but that smile soon faded when we heard faint coughing. "That sounds like it's coming from the cafeteria entrance…" Tyler started running off with Shelby and I followed close behind. There was crowd of people that was slowly growing as I squeezed my way through. I was kinda short and skinny for my age, but my slimness helped me get through the growing crowd of teens. Finally, I was able to see what had gotten everyone's attention. In the middle of the crowd, there was a boy in a grey hoodie with a blue stripe, crouched over, coughing and wheezing like mad. Two other boys that looked just like him, but with slightly different hoodies were crouched beside him, obviously freaking out.

"The ambulance is on its way!" A teacher exclaimed.

"Jordan, what the hell is happening to you?!" One of the boys asked. Of course the coughing one, Jordan, didn't respond. His coughing sounded like someone was literally ripping his vocal chords apart. That's when I noticed the blood trickling down the side of his mouth and onto the pavement, staining it red. This went on for about five minutes until an ambulance finally came. I wasn't exactly sure what they did to him to make him stop coughing. I think they gave him some kind of pill and they carried him away, the other two hopping into the vehicle with him.

The crowd started to disperse once the ambulance drove off. Eventually the bell rang and I headed into the cafeteria and up the stairs.

What the hell did I just witness?


	8. Chapter 8 - Fatal

**Danny's POV**

It all happened so quickly. Jordan, Max and I were just chatting and laughing with some friends when Jordan suddenly let out several loud coughs. We all looked at him, worryingly.

"It's nothing. I'm probably just allergic to something." He assured. He then started a huge coughing fit and the next thing I knew, he was on the ground, coughing and wheezing uncontrollably, his skin getting paler and blood dripped from his mouth.

Now here we were in a hospital room, Jordan lying in a hospital bed, still looking pale. Max and I stood there along with our parents.

"Are you okay? Do you feel alright?" Mom asked.

"I'm fine, Mom." Jordan replied, voice now raspy from all that coughing.

"Dude. You scared us shitless." Max sighed. "What happened?"

"I don't know…I just started coughing and…yeah…" Jordan's voice was quiet, but he smiled. "But I'll be fine. I just got a little unlucky and caught an illness. It happens."

"I don't think coughing up blood is a symptom to most common illnesses though…" I mumbled.

"I'll tell the others." Max took out his phone and began texting our friends. A doctor walked in with a solemn look on his face and I could tell this was not going to end well.

"Well Mr. and Mrs. Finest, I'm afraid I have some bad news." He started. Max and I gulped and prepared ourselves. Jordan weakly looked at the doctor. "It would appear that Jordan Finest has been stricken with an unknown disease." My heart froze. I could feel Max beside me freeze.

"…And you don't know the cure…?" Dad questioned.

"We looked through the X-rays and found that these unknown cells seem to be slowly eating Jordan's muscles and blood cells, marking this unknown disease as fatal." My frozen heart then shattered. The sound of a clang filled the silent room. Max had dropped his phone, his body now trembling.

"F- Fatal…?" Mom repeated. The doctor slowly nodded.

"We've calculated the time that it'll take for the disease to take away his life. He'll have a month. We promise to do our best to try and find the cure. You may visit as many times as you please." The doctor walked out of the room. I heard Mom whimper. I looked over at Jordan who had tears in his eyes.

"…I'm gonna…die…?" He whispered. I patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry. They'll find a cure. They have to." I said.

They have to find a cure.

Right?

Jordan won't die.

He can't die.

**Jerome's POV**

"Why does school have to be so boring?" Preston whined. The week went by surprisingly fast. The atmosphere had been quite anxious ever since Monday where a guy had started a huge coughing fit. I think his name was Jordan. One of the triplets. But now it was Friday during lunch. Me and the gang were outside, sitting and chilling on the field.

"It's a place where you learn useless things." Ashley stated. "What do you expect it to be like?"

"A place where unicorn dragons rule and we all have to wear fancy hats and talk in really bad German accents." Mat mumbled. Rob clapped sarcastically. I rolled over the grass and sat next to Mitch. Vikk looked up from the book that he was reading and stared at Mat questioningly.

"...Unicorn dragons...?" He questioned.

"Don't question my logic." Mat crossed his arms.

"Yeah well this weekend isn't gonna be any better for me." Lachlan started. "My parents are still mad at me about us messing up the kitchen. I have to do the chores."

"Well I'm going out with my grandpa tomorrow. He's gonna teach me how to hunt." Ryan announced proudly.

"Aw! Does that mean you can't meet me at the café?" Mitch questioned, disappointed. Ryan shook his head.

"Sorry. But that doesn't mean that you still can't buy me a doughnut." He winked at Mitch. The Canadian huffed.

"Fine. Jerome, do you wanna meet me at the café tomorrow?" Mitch asked me, slightly playing with the top of my bacca hat.

"Yeah, sure!" I replied quickly. I flashed Mitch a joyful smile and Mitch did the same. I couldn't help, but stare into his eyes for a couple seconds. Rob raised an eyebrow at us.

"Sooo…What exactly did you two do last night?" Rob asked.

"I invited Jerome over so we could do our homework together." Mitch calmly stated.

"You sure you two weren't doing anything else~?" Rob wriggled his eyebrows. Lachlan snorted and Mat burst into laughter. I pulled my hat over my face in embarrassment. Mitch tried his best to laugh it off.

"No we did not. You guys are perverts."

"They totally did. I bet the neighbors called the police because of Jerome's screaming…" Ryan trailed off.

"Shut up!"

"Aw, Jerome, there's no need to be embarrassed." Vikk patted my head. I scooted away from his touch and much closer to Mitch.

"Give it back you bitch!" A voice boomed from near the football field. The second, I turned my head towards the voice, I scowled. Baki was there, holding something and that guy, Brice, was obviously trying to get it back from him.


	9. Chapter 9 - Loving Message

**Brice's POV**

"Give me back my phone and go fuck with someone else!" I snarled at Baki as I reached for my cellphone. He drew his hand back.

"Ah ah ah." He waved it in my face teasingly. "If you promise to be a good boy then I might consider giving it back." I just wanted to grab that stupid red scarf around his neck and choke him with it. Actually I could, but not only would I be suspended, but the other three would be on my back 24/7. Right now I just needed to focus on getting my phone back. "Hmm…Let's see… Why don't we send another text message to Seto…?" My eyes widened.

"Don't you dare…" I hissed at him. I slightly raised my fist, ready to punch him. But he wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

"Poor Seto must be so sad right now. Maybe a loving message from his boyfriend might cheer him up." He smirked and began texting.

"I am not his boyfriend! Cut it out!" Of course he didn't stop.

"And…Send." He said after finishing. He threw my phone back at me and I caught it. I quickly went to my list of sent messages to see what he sent. My heart fucking exploded right then and there.

'Hey Seto. I just wanted to say that I love you. You mean the world to me and I would do anything to go out with you.'

I stared at the message in awe. After my moment of utter shock, my second reaction was to glare holes through Baki's head. He still kept that stupid smirk on his face.

"You can thank me later. Now you and that dead weight can be together forever and ever." He stated sarcastically and walked off. I was so angry that I couldn't even move to hit him. I stared back at the message.

What if Seto sees this?

What will he think?

"What the hell did you do this time?" I heard a female British voice. I looked up from my phone and saw Ashley and her friends arguing with Baki.

"Nothing." Baki grumbled.

"Bullshrimp!" Preston barked. Baki rolled his eyes.

"Much comeback. Such wow." Baki mocked Preston.

"Get out of here. Nobody wants you here." Vikk mumbled.

"Make me." Baki narrowed his eyes. Just then, we heard Pomby yell something. Baki turned towards his friend who was waving at him from a distance. He huffed and blew some of his white bangs out of his face before walking away.

"…Are you okay Brice? What did he do?" Ashley asked. I paused before hissing and shaking my head, giving them the sign that I didn't want to talk about it.

What would Seto think of me?

Would he be disgusted in me?

I mean it's not like he _likes_-likes me.

…Right?


	10. Chapter 10 - Waking Up From a Nightmare

**Kyle's POV**

As I made my way through the park, I heard a twig snap. I looked around, but saw no people. I looked at the ground and saw no twigs below my feet.

"…Squirrels." I murmured and continued my walk until I heard rustling. That's when I started felling uneasy. I picked up my pace, but then I felt someone give me huge shove and I fell face first to the ground. I groaned in pain and when I looked up, all color drained from my face.

"Hey there, Kyle…" Martin's slimy voice sent a chill down my spine as my eyes widened. My breath hitched and my heart sped up. Martin stood above me, his hands jammed into his pockets. The other three were by his side. "So by any chance, do you have that money you owe me?" He asked. I froze, gulped and slowly shook my head. Martin sighed. "You should know better than to just rip someone like me off like this. I guess we'll just have to teach you a lesson." I held down a whimper as Simon picked me up by my shirt collar.

"Мартин." Baki turned to Martin. "Ние следва да отидем по-далеч в гората, така че никой няма да ни види." Like I understood any of that. Martin nodded and walked off deeper into the woods, signaling the others to follow. I was dragged and eventually had my back slammed against a large tree.

"Завържете ръцете си заедно." Martin said. Pomby took some rope out from his hoodie's pocket and used it to tie my wrists together around the tree. Now there was no escaping. Simon let go of my shirt collar and Martin walked up to me. "…You had two weeks to give me 20 bucks… It was that simple. I'm starting to wonder if you have trouble taking us seriously..."

"N- No! I- I just lost track of time! I- I was busy! Please don't kill me!" I pleaded. Baki sneered at my terrified and helpless figure.

"Получите ножа." Martin said to Simon. Simon instantly took out a knife and pressed the blade against my neck. "…You know you're not the first one to rip us off like this. So don't feel too bad. All the other people who have ripped us off before ended up going to the hospital…" I gulped.

"H- How do I know you're not just saying that to scare me…?" I questioned, trying to sound brave.

"You calling us liars?" Martin put a hand to his chest, faking a hurt face. "Ouch, dude."

"We can easily prove to you that we don't joke around with this kind of shit." Baki hissed. I could barely see their faces as the sun had set and the moon and stars started to appear up above through all the leaves and branches of the trees. I felt the cold blade against my neck disappear, but a few seconds later, I felt that same blade slash across the bottom of my knees. I yelped in pain as I felt the warm crimson liquid start to slowly ooze out of the fresh cut marks on my knees. Then there was the sudden kick to my stomach which literally left me breathless. I coughed and gasped for air until a fist slammed into my face. At this point it was too dark to see which one was attacking. It might have been all four of them taking turns. I felt the knife dig into my left thigh. I let out a scream as the whole blade was sunk into my skin and then drew back out. They did the same to my right thigh and my shoulders.

"No god it hurts!" I screamed.

"Накарай го да млъкне!" Martin growled. I felt them tie a cloth around my mouth. They dug the knife into my chest, incredibly close to my heart. My screams were muffled by the cloth and my vision started getting blurry from either tears or blood loss. I felt the tip of the knife get dragged across my cheek and forehead. One of them punched me in the face. It was most likely Simon. I think my nose started bleeding as well as I had lost a tooth. Then someone pulled me by the hair, forcing me to look up. "Had enough yet?" Martin's dark voiced echoed through my ears. I lightly nodded. "Promise you'll be a little smarter with us?" I nodded again. He let go of my hair and there was a silence. "…Остави го. Развържи му."

"Сигурен ли си?" Pomby murmured.

"Вижте го само. Той не ще отида никъде." Martin said. I felt my wrists get untied and I instantly fell to the ground. I heard them snicker. I couldn't see from it being night and that my eyes were both swollen shut. I could only listen as their footsteps got farther and farther away and I was left there, slowly losing consciousness…

My eyes shot open and I sat up straight, panting. My heart raced as sweat trickled down my forehead. Darting my eyes around, I realized I wasn't in my room.

"You're awake!" A familiar voice sang from beside me. I looked to my left and saw Heather, Tyler, Shelby and Dar standing there in slight awe.

"They said that you would wake up today." Dar explained.

"I...wha...?" I was seriously confused.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" Shelby asked sternly. I scratched the back of my neck and that's when I realized the tube in my right forearm. There were also stitches on both of my shoulders. I felt bandages covering my forehead. I thought for a moment.

"Yeah. Martin and those assholes fucking jumped me." I murmured.

"I knew it!" Tyler hissed. I tried to scratch my forehead, but the bandage kept me from doing so.

"How long was I out?" I all glanced at each other as if trying steal the answer from each other's minds.

"About three days." Tyler finally answered. I laid my head against the pillow.

"Shit..." I murmured in disbelief.

"They said you'll be up and about in a week and a half or so." Dar stated. "It could be a lot worse."

"We got some of your things to keep you entertained." Heather pointed to a table to my right that had my laptop, a few manga books and my phone. I grinned when I noticed that one of the mangas was Death Note.

"Sweet! Thanks!" I exclaimed while grabbing it.

"We promise to come visit as much as we can." Shelby beamed.

"Yeah. We know what kind of dirty stuff you like to do when you're alone." Tyler gently patted my shoulder. "It's a good thing this hospital's wi-fi restricts you from certain websites."


	11. Chapter 11 - Sleeping Beauty

**Brice's POV**

I knocked on the door, waiting impatiently for Seto's parents or maybe even Seto himself to answer it. Yes, I was at Seto's house. Now you're probably wondering why I didn't visit him earlier after he disappeared.

Well the answer is very simple: I'm stupid.

Plus I've never actually been over to his house. I had to find his address in the phone book. After a few more knocks, the door finally swung open, revealing who I assumed to be Seto's mother.

"Hello?" She stared at me. "May I help you?"

"Um, h- hi, my name's Brice. I- I'm friends with your son, Seto." I fiddled my fingers. He studied me before smiling.

"Oh yes! Seto's has told me so much about you. My name is Mrs. Maho, Seto's mother. Please do come in and see him. He's been awfully lonely ever since we started homeschooling him." She stepped out of the way for me to come in.

"...Homeschooling...?" I questioned after I walked in.

"Yes." She closed the door behind me. "Did he not tell you? Seto told us about the way he'd been treated at the school and so we started homeschooling him."

"He never told us that...! He just disappeared all of a sudden! A- And he never answers any of us when we try to contact him!" I blurted out. Mrs. Maho sighed.

"I see... Well you go off and socialize with him. I'll have a little chat with him about that afterwards." She gestured to the stairway and I nodded before speed walking up the stairs. I walked down the hallway, trying to figure out which one might be Seto's. I stopped at a door that had a poster of a red pentagram on it.

Bingo.

I hesitantly knocked on it. No response. I bit my bottom lip, slowly opened the door and peeked inside. At first glance, nothing. But then I saw the familiar boy in the hoodie. He was sitting in a desk chair, slouched over onto the desk with his head buried in his arms. He wasn't moving.

Oh god! Was he unconscious? Was he in some kind of coma? Was he...dead?!

I shook my head furiously. Calm down, brain! I nervously walked over to him, anxiety building up with every step. Once I got close to him, I noticed an open book was planted underneath his arms and head. That's when I heard the light snoring coming from the teen. I sighed with relief and chuckled slightly. He must have fallen asleep, reading. I shook him gently.

"Seto..." I whispered. "Seto, wake up." He didn't stir. I sighed again before gingerly wrapping my arms around his sleeping figure and picking him bridal style. Walking, the short distance to his bed, I gently plopped him down onto it. He was still fast asleep when I pulled the blanket over him. I took one long look at him. His usually short and messy light brown hair was messier than usual. The white headband that he usually wears was missing. I spotted it on the floor along with a bunch of scattered books and crumpled up papers. Wow his room was a mess. His skin was paler than usual as well. I gingerly touched his forehead. It was freezing. He had bags under his eyes, too. I frowned at this. The only thing that seemed the same about his face were his lips that still looked as soft as always. Even though he looked duller, he was still as adorable as ever. Like Sleeping Beauty.

Who am I kidding? He's way more beautiful than her. If only I could see his eyes. His big gorgeous orbs that were a mixture of different shades of brown, that seemed to twinkle day and night and had a faint purple glimmer to them when the sun shines on them. They were the most perfect, beautiful breathta- Ugh! Stop it! Bad brain! I mentally slapped myself.

I didn't realize how long I was just standing there and staring at him until my phone buzzed. It was a message from my mom. She wanted to know if I remembered that I had Taekwondo lessons in ten minutes. Crap I forgot. Without further ado, I walked out of Seto's room, taking one last glance at him, before closing the door and leaving the house after saying goodbye to Mrs. Maho.


	12. Chapter 12 - Teasing

** Ty's POV**

It's been about a week and I haven't had any bad encounters with Martin and his gang. They seemed to be more occupied with harassing other people these past few days. What really pissed me off was how the teachers never seemed to be around whenever they're messing with someone. I've also noticed this new guy who seemed to follow them around. He didn't really join them with their horseplay. He would just kind of sit back and watch. From the few times that I had seen him from a distance, he seemed to have blond hair, a black jacket and pants with a white shirt, like Martin, and a blue tie.

"So how's Kyle doing?" I asked Tyler when we were outside.

"He's doing fine. He's recovering faster than the doctor thought. There's a chance he'll be out of the hospital this weekend." He stated cheerfully. Adam had texted me, saying that he wasn't feeling well today and so he stayed home.

"That's good to hear. I kinda miss having Pinkie around." I joked.

"You know if Kyle was here right now, he'd probably scold you and force you to call him Magenta-y." Tyler snorted.

"Oh I know."

So remember how just a couple minutes ago, I was talking about how I haven't been in any bad situations with those bullies? I think I may have jinxed myself. Martin's remarkable laugh hit my eardrums. Tyler must have heard it, too because he slightly shivered. It was obvious that he was afraid of them. You really couldn't blame him. Especially after what they did to his best friend. And as if something was controlling me, I followed the sound of the laughter, Tyler protesting and pleading me to come back. I eventually tracked the laughter to behind the school where I had punched Martin.

"You two are so disgustingly cute." Baki sneered. The four Bulgarians were surrounding these two boys who were up against the wall of the building. I recognized them. The one in the black jacket, pants and red tie with a furry animal hat. The other in a red and black checkered hoodie, white shirt, blue jeans, a golden dog tag and short light brown hair. They were two of the guys who I'd see hanging out with Lachlan and some others. Their brown eyes glinted with anger as the other four teased them. That's when I noticed the boy standing by the side. It was the one who followed them around. His eyes were a dark blue and he seemed fearful and rather disappointed as he watched the scene take place.

"You guys gonna kiss for us or not?" Simon grinned.

"Just leave us alone, dammit." The one with the animal hat growled fiercely. I was surprised. He sounded way more intimidating than he looked.

"Mitch and Jerome laying in their bed. F-U-C-K-I-N-G." Pomby teased. The one in the hoodie rolled his eyes and I almost did, too.

"So which one is the bitch?" Martin questioned.

"My bets are on Bacca head." Baki pointed at the one with the hat.

"Get a load of these two gay fucks here, Ceco." Martin called out to the blond standing by. He slowly nodded, the blank expression on his face, never changing.

"I _hate_ faggots like you." Simon growled at them.

"How about we reenact a little story?" Martin started. "Once upon a time, there was a girl named Amanda and boy named Tyrone. The two loved each other very much and they were always going to be together. Until one day, Amanda was murdered brutally and Tyrone was left heartbroken. Mitch can be Tyrone and Jerome will be Amanda." Simon pulled out his pocket knife and took a few steps towards Jerome.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" The boy in the hoodie, Mitch, snarled. He grabbed Jerome's hand tightly and stood in front of him, protecting him.

"Oh my. Here comes the big strong boyfriend here to save the day!" Baki cackled.

"God, why don't you just leave them alone and mind your own fucking business!" I hissed as I stormed towards them and stood in front of the two boys. What in the hell was I doing?

"Oh now it's a party." Martin grimaced at me. "You're _really_ pushing your goddamn luck, kid. Stay out of this."

"Ooh looks like we've got a love triangle going on." Pomby snickered. Simon was suddenly right in front of me, the blade of his knife against my neck. I jumped and took a step back.

"Pussy." Simon sneered.

"Just fuck off!" Mitch roared which also made me jump. Martin and the others weren't intimidated the slightest though. In fact, they only seemed to be even more confident from the boy's rage.

"Guys. Let's just go somewhere else." The boy who was standing by, Ceco, suddenly mumbled. The others stared at him in awe. "Can't we just go and get something to eat? Without stealing it from someone?" Baki and Pomby looked at each other and Simon put the knife back in his pocket and crossed his arms.

"Tch. Whatever." Martin finally grumbled. "Catch you sluts later." The four walked off with Ceco, leaving me and the other two alone.

"...Hey Ty." I turned to Mitch's voice calling my name. He stared at me dead in the eyes. "Don't do that next time." i blinked at his words.

"But...First off, I was trying to help you. Second off, how do you know my name...?"

"Lachlan told us about you." Jerome straightened his hat. "And we know you were just trying to help, but you should have stayed out of it. Mitch and I could have took care of it ourselves. We've dealt with those jags a million times before. They're nothing special."

"You're a good kid, Ty. Please try and stay away from those four. They're just like mosquitoes. They bite you and annoy you until sooner or later, you fall ill and maybe die."

"Just let us and the others take care of them." Jerome placed his hand on my shoulder. I slowly nodded and he grinned.

"Good boy." The two started walking off, but I stopped them.

"Um. Sorry if this is personal, but...are you two actually...like...a thing?" I asked, afraid that they might react badly. The two looked at each other and quickly looked away.

"Uh..." Mitch scratched the back of his head. "Well..."

"I- It's not like a...I mean...We...uh..." Jerome stuttered, his cheeks turning light red. Then the bell chimed.

"Oh well gotta go! See ya Ty!" Mitch grabbed Jerome's arm and they ran off, leaving me to walk back into the school with a confused look on my face.


	13. Chapter 13 - Seto

**Gizzy's POV (One week time skip)**

"I win!" Cib cheered and pumped his fist.

"You fucking blew in my face!" Steve retorted. Sitting at a lunch table outside and watching two of your friends having a staring contest is more entertaining than it may seem.

"Don't be such a sore loser, Skateboard-face." Cib stuck his tongue out at Steve. The brunette gritted his teeth in return and slammed his fist on the table.

"Wow, calm down there, Steven!" Nick ordered as he caught his can of ice tea which almost fell over and spilled from Steve's outrage. "You're scaring the children."

"Whatever." Steve growled and crossed his arms. My phone buzzed as Cib did a little victory dance. It was a text message from Max, explaining Jordan's condition.

Max had been messaging all of their friends, explaining how Jordan was doing every two days or so. Sadly he was only getting worse.

MCFinestMax: He looks like a fucking skeleton now...

That's what the message said. This broke me and lot of others' hearts for two reasons. One: One of our friends might die in the next week or two. And two: Seeing Danny and Max walking around the school all heartbroken and sulky isn't really a happy feeling either.

"What does it say this time?" Nick asked. He must have seen the look on my face. I showed him the text message and he sighed. Looking around the schoolyard, I saw Kyle and Tyler goofing around. Kyle had gotten better and left the hospital two days ago. He still had bandages around the areas he had been stabbed, but other than that, he was fine. By the looks of it, he and Tyler were imitating old people.

"Hey look it's GuldSouples." Steve pointed behind me. I raised an eyebrow at him before looking in the direction of his finger. Brice sat at the table behind us, drawing in his sketchbook.

"Hey Brice!" I exclaimed. He looked up and looked at me.

"Sup?" I walked over to sit beside him.

"Did you try and find Seto's house?" He blinked as if trying to process what I had just said.

"Oh yeah! I did. I went over, but he was asleep so I didn't get to talk to him."

"Shame. Could you try going over to his house again this weekend?" I asked.

"Sure." He quickly replied. I swear that boy was coo-coo for the petite brunette.

"I wanna try going over to his place, too sometime. Do you remember his address?"

"Yup. It's 32 Biome Street." He explained. I hurriedly put that down in my phone.

"Oh so he lives right by the park. No wonder he goes there so often." Just then the bell rang and Brice and I stood up, saying quick goodbyes.

What we didn't notice was the familiar boy in all white and a red scarf sitting on a bench close by who had been listening in on our conversation...

**Seto's POV :O**

I tugged my hood further over my head as I walked from my house to the park, avoiding eye contact with anyone. I loved going to the park after my homeschooling sessions, right after lunch. There would be no kids there. Sometimes there would be a group of teenagers hanging who had skipped a class or something. I tried my very best to hide until they left. There would usually just be a few adult or elderly couples wandering and sitting around. And as if it was my lucky day, there was absolutely no one there. I walked over to a table and sat down, placing the book that I had brought with me onto the table. It was a little windy today and I had to keep my fingers on the book so the pages wouldn't flip around.

After getting through five pages, I glanced around to know if anyone had come here yet. That's when I spotted a boy sitting on a bench several meters away from me with his back facing me. At first I panicked. He looked like Brice from the back. A black jacket and blonde hair. But his wasn't spiky like Brice's. He looked around my age and so I got up, ready to head home before he spotted me. But almost as if the wind was carrying me, I began walking towards emhim/em. Just as I was about to turn around, he looked at me.

"...Um...Hi..." I said nervously.

"H- Hello..." He responded shyly. He had an accent. A familiar one. But I couldn't but my finger on it. The boy had blue eyes, black jacket and pants, a white shirt and a blue tie. "Wh- Who are you...?"

"...Seto..." I whispered through a loud gush of wind and yet somehow he heard me.

"I'm...Ceco..." He shuddered, hugging himself.

"Uh...What're you doing here, Ceco...?"

"...I have a Science class right now, but my teacher really hates me so I started skipping and coming here..." He explained.

You know that moment when you know someone is lying to you, but you just brush it off because you don't want to bug them? Yeah. I just had that moment.

"Why are you h- here...?" He was obviously freezing. Poor kid.

"I'm home-schooled." I answered bluntly. He slowly nodded. "Listen. I know your Science teacher hates you and all, but wouldn't you rather be there than all the way out here?" he looked down.

"I...just don't wanna go back..." He mumbled. I sighed. Come to think of it, he kind of reminded me of myself. "...H- hey... What book are you reading...?" His question caught me off guard.

"Uh...Gardens of the Moon..." I answered, surprising myself. Why was I being so open? Whenever someone I didn't know tried to talk with me, I'd always try to end the conversation as soon as possible, refusing to answer any of their questions.

"Y- You like fantasy?" He asked. I nodded.

"Love it."

"Me too...! I- I have A Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings if you're interested. I- I could show them to you sometime. Could we maybe meet up here at the same time tomorrow...?" He asked shyly.

"S- Sure."

"Seto!" I heard the voice of my mom call out. I turned to see her at the doorstep of our house. She was waving at me, signalling me to come back.

"Oh. I gotta go." I said scurrying off with my book.

"See you soon, friend..." I heard him half whisper.

Friend? I made...a friend? That quickly...?


	14. Chapter 14 - Betrayal

**Adam's POV**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ty asked as we walked into the cafe. "My mom is literally gonna kill me if she finds out."

"Don't worry, man. We're just gonna grab a doughnut or somethin' and get back to school before third period." I reassured him.

Yes we were skipping class. Reflection, to be specific. But for a good reason. The school council decided to start a cooking club every Tuesday during lunch. Me, Ty and a bunch of other kids decided to try it out. The whole thing turned out to be the best day ever.

So the teacher, who was a chef who used to work in a five-star restaurant, made us partner up and bake a cake. Three minutes in, some kid started singing that cake song from Lazytown and ended up getting at least five other people to sing along. My friend Quentin had accidentally dropped the bag of flour and it went everywhere. We all looked like ghosts. Someone even started making ghost noises. Then Jason and his best friend, Tyler started messing around and spilled their baking soda. Later on, I got in trouble for adding way too much butter into the mix and Ty got in trouble for starting an egg war with Brice, Ross, Sub and Idriys. Palmer accidentally threw dough in Pete's face. Jerome dropped some of his mix on the floor and slipped on it. He landed in Mitch's arms and their lips actually touched. But the best out of all of that was that this kid named Ian wore his sunglasses during the whole thing. The teacher took them away and the dude literally went apeshit. He was so mad that he pushed his table over, spilling all of his ingredients. His partner, Lancey, tried to calm him down and he ended up getting punched in the face, but not hard enough to knock him out or break his nose. He grabbed a rolling pin and started chasing people around, including me and Ty. That's when the principal walked in and the next thing we knew, we were all sitting in the reflection room for the rest of lunch.

Ty and I managed to get away with the I-really-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom trick and got ourselves excused. Now here we were in the cafe just down the street from the school.

"Yeah, but aren't they gonna notice that we've been gone for way too long?"

"Ty, I told you, the woman in charge of reflection is stupid. Why do you think she let us both leave to 'go to the bathroom'? She probably already forgot that we were even in reflection." Ty laughed at my remark.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm always right, silly billy," I messed up his hair playfully and he punched my in the side in return. We waited in line to order our food.

We both walked out of the cafe, a chocolate muffin in my hand and a cinnamon roll in Ty's hand, and raced each other back to the school before the bell got a chance to ring.

**Seto's POV**

I feel guilty for basically throwing all my friends away. Especially Brice. The day that I had gotten mugged by a kid was the day that my parents found out about the way almost everyone treated me at school. Then they switched me to homeschooling. But the worst part was the kid that beat me up that day was actually one of my friends.

_~Flashback~_

I was on my way home when I heard a familiar female voice behind me.

"Hey Seto!" I turned around to see Bonks. She looked stern and...sad...?

"Hey Bonks. What's wrong?" I asked, worried that her usually peppy attitude was missing.

"Listen. I need you...to give me...your...stuff..." She shuffled and refused to make eye contact.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Just give me your shit...!" She blurted out. I took a step back.

"Bonkers, what's wrong? Tell me. This isn't like you."

"I don't...I can't...just..." She took a deep breath and grabbed me by my sweater. "I can't be your friend anymore. They told me to mug you. If I don't , they said they'd kill Mayu..." I stared at her.

"What are you talking about? Who's they? Why would they want to kill your cat?"

"...Those guys that pick on you during lunch..." My eyes widened. I knew Mayu meant the world to her.

"Bonkers... What're you-"

"Just fucking give me your shit so I don't have to hurt you!"

"Bo-" She swiftly took out a knife and stared coldly at me, but her eyes were filled with tears. guilt and grief. I took no time in turning around and dashing off towards my house. Big mistake. Just as I reached my house, she managed to catch up with me and push me to the ground. She let out a sob as I felt the blade plunge into my stomach. Not being able to take all of this, I instantly passed out.

_~End of Flashback~_

I shivered at the sudden painful memory. Ceco noticed this and hugged me softly. Ceco and I have known each other for almost a week and we're already really close friends. Ceco just seems to have that kind of aura that makes you want to confess all your problems to him. We like the same kind of things and have similar problems that we try to help each other with. One of Ceco's problems was math, which was what I was helping him with at the moment.

"Sorry. It's okay. I- It was just a memory. Now, let's get back to work." I said. He let go of me and watched intently as I showed him how to get a percentage. "It's simple. You just divide the numerator by the denominator and then multiply the answer by 100."

"Mm-hm. And what exactly is a numberater and denomimater?" I sighed and chuckled at his mispronunciation.

"The numerator is the top number and denominator is the bottom one." He nodded his head, understanding. He glanced around and looked at me.

"Hey, um...can you follow me for a sec?" He asked. I shrugged. He got up and grabbed his notebook and other things. I followed him into the small woods of the park. We eventually stopped and I stared at him questioningly. "S- Sorry that was so sudden. It's just that there were other people where we were and...I wanted to ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"What...What was that...memory that you said you had?" He looked at me worriedly. I smiled softly at his care, but then frowned.

"It...It was just...I once got mugged by someone..."

"You...You did...? By who?"

"It was a...a former friend of mine. She was threatened by these guys who used to pick on me and they forced her to mug me." I looked down. "I just...never felt so betrayed in my entire life..." I suddenly noticed Ceco tense up. I looked back up and saw what looked like guilt in his eyes.

"I- I've...had something...l- like that happen to me, t- too..." His voice was extremely shaky. I patted his shoulder.

"Hey it's okay. Let it all out."

"Seto... I can't..." He took a couple steps away from me. I stared at him, confused.

"Ceco, what's the matter? You can tell me." He finally met eyes with me. His blue eyes sparkled and a single tear escaped and ran down his pale cheeks. His last words came out in a shaky whisper.

"I'm sorry..."

I suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind me. Before I even got a chance to react, I was hit in the back of the head hard. And everything went black...


	15. Chapter 15 - Oh No

**Gizzy's POV**

"What do you mean he's not here?" Kyle lightly clenched his fists. I shivered as a gust of cold wind flew by. Thinking back, I should have brought my coat. Maybe that's why Dad was all up on my case, demanding me to put on my coat. Oh well.

"I'm afraid he left to play with his friend at the park a while ago." Seto's dad pondered for a minute. "Come to think of it, he's been gone an awful long time. Longer than usual at least. Perhaps it would be best to check and see how he's doing." Kyle and I glanced at each other before nodding simultaneously.

"Will do." I turned around and was about to walk off when a hand grabbed my arm not gently, but not rough either. Just enough to pull my attention. I turned back around and faced Seto's dad who now had a stern look.

"If you do talk to him, don't drown him in questions. The boy's been through enough."

"Come on, Mister Maho. We've known your son for years. I know this is the first time you've met us, but I'll bet you my entire life savings that you can trust us." Kyle stated. I nodded. He sighed and rubbed his temple.

"Oh alright." As if it was summer vacation, Kyle and bolted off, excited to see one of our closest friends after two months.

"Oh god. The memories." Kyle slightly winced as he took one long look around the park.

"Don't tell me you're scarred for life now."

"I might be," The pink haired male shuffled closer to me. "Maybe a kissy kiss from my favorite Britain will make my nightmares go away." He fluttered his eyelashes.

"You are the strangest man I've ever known." I stated flatly, pushing him away. He put on the dumbest pouty face I'd ever seen and I rolled my eyes,

We wandered around the park a bit, looking for any clues that Seto was there. But the petite brunette was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe we missed him."

"You don't think he could be hiding from us, do you?" I questioned, watching someone's dog chase a squirrel up a tree. Kyle thought for a moment.

"...Possibly." Just then, my phone buzzed. Reaching into my pocket, and pulling it out, I looked to see that Adam had sent me a message.

SkythekidRS: Did you see Seto yet?

I took a quick glance around before texting him back.

gizzy14gazza: Nupe. His dad said he was at biome park, but he ain't here. :/

A few seconds rolled by until he replied back.

SkythekidRS: damn. Well maybe he is trying to avoid us. Best if u wait until it gets darker when ya know hes home.

gizzy14gazza: kay

I put my phone back in my pocket after sending the message.

"Who was it?" Kyle asked.

"Adam. He says that we should wait until he should be home. So for now, we should get back home."

"Sounds like a plan."

**Ceco's POV**

I'm a horrible person.

I'm a horrible person who deserves to die.

Why couldn't I have just not listened to them? We could've been best friends. But...they're my friends, too. I can't upset them. But I'm not their puppet. I'm not their minion. I can make my own decisions. They're assholes. I used to be a good person until they came into my life. Why do I follow them around?

Why?

And because of my loyalty to them, I've lost the only friend that I'll probably ever have...other than them.

"Look who's finally awake." Baki's voice sneered.

Oh no.

I sat in fetal position up against a tree as I watched the scene that I had created take place. Seto's eyes widened and I thought they were gonna pop out of his head. His breath hitched as he struggled, but the rope tying his arms to the tree stopped him from escaping his terrible fate. The four towered over him venomous expressions on each face.

"That's it. Squirm, little bitch, squirm. There's no escaping." Martin said coldly.

"P- Please let me go..." Seto whimpered.

"I don't think so. You've been hiding from us for two months. We know you're terrified of us. We can't resist something like this." Seto grit his teeth slightly as his lip started quivering. He clenched his eyes shut.

Oh no. Seto please, please _please_ don't-

A sob escaped Seto's lips as tears started streaming down his cheeks.

God. Fucking. Dammit,

If there's anything that can make me feel more guilty than watching someone I've betrayed cry their eyes out because of me then I'd probably fucking kill myself.

"Aww somebody's upset." Pomby cooed.

"Please! I never did anything to you!" Seto cried.

"Shut it, faggot!" Simon slapped him across the face. Seto weakly turned his gaze to me. I buried my face into my knees, not wanting to make eye contact with him, and sobbed myself.

"You're so called friend there betrayed you, Just like a lot of people. You were smart, abandoning all of the friends you had left. 'Cause they were gonna betray you, too." Martin's voice seemed...more sinister than usual... "Kyle hates you. Adam despises you. Gizzy calls you a bitch-"

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up_!" Seto wailed. Simon punched him in the stomach, making him cough as saliva dripped from his mouth that had been hanging open ever since he started crying.

"And you know what Brice thinks of you? He hates you so much that he wants to watch you to die in a fire. We're about to make half of your crush's wish come true." As Martin said that, Simon took out a lighter. Both me and Seto's eyes widened with terror.

Are they crazy?

Maybe they were smoking crack or something before they came and knocked Seto out.

"Hmm..." Martin caressed Seto's cheek, making the brunette tremble. "I'll admit you are cute. Shame this is your final day of life." Simon lit it and a small orange flame appeared. He brought it closer to Seto's face, the flame almost touching his nose.

"Oh no. That would be too easy." Martin took the lighter from Simon's grasp and dropped it somewhere nearby, I stared as the dead leaves and the grass started to catch fire. "There. That makes things more interesting." Seto continued to struggle as he sobbed uncontrollably.

"Farewell Seto." Baki smirked.

"Hope to see your roasted dead body on TV tonight." Pomby laughed. The four turned around and began to run.

"Let's go, Ceco!" Martin called out to me. I shakily stood up and turned towards the direction they ran.

"Help me...Please..." Seto's broken whimper was enough to break anyone's heart. Personally, my heart fucking shattered. But I couldn't face him. I couldn't look at his face. I couldn't meet his eyes filled with sorrow or I'd break down. I wish I could save him. I wish I could take his place and burn to death for him. Or at the very least, burn to death with him.

But I'm a fucking coward. Everyone sees me as a heartless bastard. And there's nothing I can do to fix that.

And so I let out one last sob...and ran...

Away from Seto...

Away from the only friend I'd ever have...


	16. Chapter 16 - Fire

**Adam's POV**

"_Koniichiwa, watashi_

_Awanakatta darou?_

_Sayounara, anata_

_Saa, hanashi shiyou ka?_"

'_Man, this song is trippy as shit._' I thought to myself. I listened to the chorus, trying to figure out what Ty found so interesting about the song, I mean yeah, it was Japanese, but so? This just wasn't my jam. As I listened to the chorus, the sudden scent of smoke filled my nostrils. I grimaced at the unpleasant smell and groaned. Was dad trying to make burgers again?

But no. This smoke smelled...different somehow. Like not the kind of smoke you'd smell from a barbecue. I looked out my open window to try and see any sign of a fire.

Nothing. Strange. I paused the song and dialed Kyle's number. After a few seconds, he picked up.

"Yo."

"Hey Pinkie. Have you talked to Seto yet?"

"No. I just called his parents and they said that he still wasn't home yet."

"Seriously?" I glanced out my window again. It was getting dark. "But it's getting late." I exclaimed, grabbing my head.

"I know..."

There was a pause. That's when a sudden thought made my stomach twist and a chill run up my spine.

"...Do you think..."

"No, Adam. He's fine." Kyle said sternly. I knew he didn't like talking about situations revolving around Martin and his gang of Bulgarian dickheads.

"Okay... But what if he's-"

"You know what, why don't you go look for him!" He growled before hanging up.

Grumpy Kyle was grumpy. Who would've guessed? I stared out the window one last time, the scent seeming to get stronger. Maybe I should close my window... Nah.

Should I go and see if I can find Seto?

Probably.

Since Mister Grumpy-pants probably isn't gonna do it.

**Brice's POV**

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed on the phone.

"I'm sorry. Some of Seto's other friends have also called. I'm sure he'll be back soon. And when he does come back, I'll let you know, Brice." Mrs. Maho reassured me.

"But... I- It's 8:00pm...!" I squeaked as I grabbed my alarm clock. "Seto never wanted to go outside after eight!" I explained.

"He's probably having lots of fun with his new friend." She sounded way happier than she should be.

"Are you even worried about him at all?" I blurted. I quickly covered my mouth after realizing what I had just said. There was a pause before Seto's mom sighed.

"Of course I am, Brice. But we have to have faith in the boy. He can take care of himself."

'_No... No he can't..._' I thought. '_He needs help. He needs protection at all times. There are people in this world who are out to get him._' "I'm...sorry if I upset you, Mrs. Maho." I looked down.

"Oh it's alright. I understand your concern for him. I promise I'll contact you as soon as he's home." She hung up. Yeah. She's probably mad at me. Oh well. My phone suddenly buzzed and for some strange reason, I thought that it was Seto. It was Mitch. No, not the Mitch from the popular kids who may or may not have a crush on Jerome. It was another Mitch, one of my closest friends.

StrauberryJam: DUDE U HAVE TO CHECK THE NEWS! CHANNEL 14! NAOW!1!11!1!111

I stared at the text message. This was definitely out of the ordinary. Mitch is never interested in the news. So this must have been important in some way. I shoved my phone into my pocket, walked out of my room and down the stairs.

"Guys?" I walked into the living room to see two of my brothers sitting on the couch. "Could you turn the channel to 14?"

"The news?" They looked at me oddly, but didn't question it. Mike grabbed the remote that lied next to his plate of a half eaten BLT on the coffee table and switched the TV to channel 14.

"_It is a mystery as to what the cause of the fire was. Witnesses have said to have seen two teenagers, both male, one with blond hair and the other in a grey and purple hood, in the park before it had set fire."_

Welp that was enough to make me pass out. But I didn't. I didn't even have to look at the damn TV. But I did anyway. Sure enough, it showed a video of firefighters trying to put out a fire. The fire located in nowhere other than Biome Park.

A grey and purple hoodie. No doubt, that was Seto. And he still wasn't home yet.

Oh no...

_Oh god no...!_

I ran out of the room and dashed out of the house, almost forgetting to put my sneakers on. I ran towards the park that was currently in flames as fast as I could. As I made it to the large fire, police cars, fire trucks and a large crowd of people were waiting there. I spotted Mr. and Mrs. Maho talking to a policeman.

"My son is still in there!" I heard Mrs. Maho wail. My blood went from cold to frozen. Glancing at the firefighters and the policemen, I waited until no one was looking at me before I crawled underneath the safety tape they had put up and ran into the burning the park.

"What's that boy doing?"

"Stop him!"

"Is he crazy?"

"Kid! Get back here!"

"He'll get himself killed!"

All the people's voices were eventually replaced with the loud crackling of fire and trees burning to crisps. I tried to maneuver my way through the maze of flames and falling burning tree branches as I tried to search for the one thing that was on my mind.

Seto.


	17. Chapter 17 - Reunited

**Lachlan's POV**

"We don't care what they say! We will be here all day! We'll stay 'till it's over~!"

"You're a horrible singer..." Vikk groaned, plugging his ears. I quickly stuck my tongue out at him and continued my cover of 'Till It's Over' by Tristam.

"'Till the world's out of sight, we will stand, we will fight! It's not over 'till it's over~!"

"You make every Monstercat song with lyrics sound horrific. Your parents are ashamed of you." Ryan stated dryly as he sat upside down on my dad's armchair while pressing random buttons on the remote, trying to find a good channel.

"Don't be so salty." I put on a pathetic pouty face and crossed my arms. "I bet you two couldn't do any better."

"Au contraire..." Ryan started, but I cut him off.

"Hey! I bet I can do a good cover of 'Frame of Mind'!"

"Oh, god, please no!" Vikk buried his face into his hands. "That's like my favorite song. Please don't ruin it." I huffed, feeling slightly offended. Vikk was so rude sometimes. Why does Preston have the hots for him?

"Okay. I see how it is." I stood up from my weird lying position on the couch and was about to walk off when Ashley suddenly jerked up.

"What in the world...?" At first, we were all confused and wondering the same question when we, one-by-one, noticed her stare towards the TV. The screen showed a crowd of people, police cars, firetrucks and a raging fire. The area seemed familiar.

"Turn up the volume, milk boy." Mitch ordered Ryan who still had the remote.

"That's milk _man _to you." He sat up right and grabbed his glass of half drunken milk that sat on the coffee table. He then splashed a bit of it in Mitch's face.

"Oh you jag...!"

"Calm down, ladies." I said as Mitch wiped his face with his sleeve and glared at Ryan who simply smiled innocently.

"Volume. Now." Ashley commanded. Ryan lazily held his thumb down onto the volume button until it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"_The firefighters seem to have the situation under control. A number of policemen and citizens are yelling after a teenage who is currently running into the burning park._"

The camera turned to record an awfully familiar blonde haired teenage boy running towards the giant structure of fire. There was a minute of shocked silence.

"Hey... That guy kinda looks like Brice." Rob pointed out. Mat face palmed.

"No shit it looks like Brice!" Jerome hissed. Rob leaned closer to Mat as if for protection.

"Should we go and help?"

"I'm sure the police and firefighters have got it cov-" Before I could even finish, most of them were out the door. "W- Wait up!" I turned the TV off and practically flew out of the room and after them. "You can't just leave without the Australian!"

**Brice's POV**

"Seto!" I called out for the billionth time. Only two minutes in and I already had a large amount of burn marks across my hands, face and neck. The tips of my hair were singed and my sleeve had already caught fire once. I yelped as another and rather large flaming tree branch came crashing down, almost landing on me. "Fuck!" I fell backwards and almost had my head buried in fire. I quickly got up and ran as fast as I could. "_Seto!_" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I wiped the tears that formed in my eyes. I was blistering hot and I knew I could catch fire at any moment.

I was too late.

There's no way anyone could've survived in this maze of fire.

I was about to let out my first sob when a very faint voice just barely reached my eardrums through the large crackling fires.

"Seto?!" I jolted and jerked my head around. I ran through the only way I could go without catching fire. "Seto, where are you?!" My voice was getting raspy from the ashes. I couldn't tell if he responded or not, but he didn't need to.

There he was, in front of me, up against a tree whose leaves and branches were quickly catching fire.

"Seto!" I cried out, running towards him.

"Brice...?" He stared up at me with almost dead eyes. I ripped the severely burnt ropes that tied him to the tree apart and flung my arms around him, letting the tears spill. "B- Brice..." He croaked.

His voice was barely audible.

He was barely conscious.

His hair was singed and a mess.

His clothes were burnt.

There was a large burn mark that spread from his left ear to his left shoulder blade.

He was paler than anyone I'd ever seen.

He was trembling so much, it felt like I was hugging an earthquake.

And yet he was still the most gorgeous being I had ever seen.

"B- Brice...!" He wailed, soaking my burnt shoulder with tears. I slowly rubbed his back as we both cried. I had completely forgotten the situation we were in even as things were burning down around us.

"It's okay... Everything will be fine now... I won't let anything happen to you ever again..." I whispered, unable to speak from my voice being too raspy and shaky.

I wasn't sure if we were going to survive.

And yet I still told him that. But even as I said that, I noticed him start to get less tense. And I could feel him try to wrap his arms around me, but he just didn't have the strength.

"It's going to be alright, Seto... You're safe now..." I petted his now smooth, but still messy hair as he continued to sob into my shoulder, both of us waiting for death to take us.


	18. Chapter 18 - Shock

**Noah's POV**

I twisted and turned my head, trying to find the voices of my friends through the storm of yells and outbursts by unknown owners.

"Noah, this way!" I turned my head to the sound of Brayden's voice. A hand, which I assumed was his, grabbed my right hand and guided me closer towards wherever this horrible smoke that was currently burning my nostrils and making my throat dry was coming from. As we passed through the wave of voices, a few particular voices stood out. They were whispering. But how familiar they sounded...

"We really shouldn't be here..."

"Yeah. What if someone finds out that it was us? It's stupid to just stay here in the crowd."

"You're right. Let's scram."

"Hey. Where's Ceco...?"

A growl.

"I swear that kid's becoming more of a bugger everyday..."

That was all I heard before their whispers/quiet talking became too distant for me to hear.

We suddenly came to a halt, me almost tripping. I raised an eyebrow and turned my head to where I thought Brayden might have been standing.

"No joke? Brice is in there? I swear to god if you're pulling my leg..." Adam's voice suddenly appeared to my right.

"I'm not kidding! He's in there!" Jerome's voice to my left.

"We saw him run into the woods on TV!" I think that was...Ashley's voice...? It came from where Jerome's was. Maybe a little more to the right.

"No doubt...Seto's in there, too..." Gizzy's voice was just above a murmur.

"...Seto..." A whisper came from just beside me. The voice belonged to...that guy who I bumped into a while ago...

What was his name again?

It started with a 'T'...

Terry...?

No. That's definitely not it.

Tyler...?

Ty! That's it!

"Wha...What's going on...?" I asked, not really meaning to have said that out loud.

"Brice and Seto may or may not be trapped in a burning park." Brayden explained rather bluntly. I could hear the light impact of something...or rather someone hitting him, followed by his soft "Ow..." My eyes widened at his words.

"W- What...?!"

"Don't worry. The firefighters have practically extinguished the entire fire now." Gizzy's calming voice stopped me from having a panic attack.

"It still smells like shit..." Tyler's voice, the one who I've heard wears nerdy glasses, grumbled. He, too, sounded like he got hit by, I think it was Gizzy. I'm pretty sure he's the one who smacks people whenever they're not being serious in a serious situation.

Gasps started erupting all around me, followed by a few screams that...definitely weren't from too far away.

"Oh my god..." Adam's voice was a shaky whisper.

If only I was able to see what made them so shocked.

Then again...

It's probably best if I didn't see.

**Kyle's POV**

We've all had those days when something just strikes us hard and leaves us upset, speechless and/or just wanting to give up. But then you think to yourself it could have been much worse and so you don't make that much of a fuss about it.

I don't know about you, but when I see two of my friends, one being one of my closest friends, all burnt up and practically dead while being carried by firefighters out of a park that was just in flames, that's usually where I tend to draw the line.

"S- Seto!"

"Brice...!"

I couldn't help but stare at them. Especially Seto.

I haven't seen the dude in like two months. I've been desperate to see him again.

But certainly not like this.

As they placed the two bodies onto separate ambulance cots and pushed them towards the ambulance vehicle, the people up front, which were all of us, could catch a good glimpse of them.

Singed hair, withered and ripped clothes, blisters, large burn marks literally decorating their bodies and completely covered in ash from head to toe. The sound of the vehicle's doors closing, made me snap out of my slight daydream. There was a moment of shocked silence between us friends as the vehicle drove off and the crowd started to disperse._  
><em>

"Hospital. _Now_!" Adam broke the silence.

* * *

><p>"A- Are they gonna be okay? Please tell me they're gonna be okay...! They have to, they have to!" Adam pleaded with the nurse.<p>

"Relax dear. They'll be fine." She reassured.

I looked over at Tyler and Ty who were staring through the glass and into the room, watching the nurses treat Brice and Seto.

"This is all my fault!" I whimpered. Gizzy glanced at me.

"Kyle..."

"If I hadn't just given up and looked around the park more th- then maybe..."

"Kyle."

"Maybe Seto would be okay...! He'd be fine. He wouldn't be almost dead with Brice! He'd..."

"Kyle...!"

"He'd be okay! He'd be smiling and laughing and having fun with us and-"

"Kyle!"

_SLAP_

...

...Ow...

Why does the side of my face suddenly hurt...?

"Get a hold of yourself, woman!" For a second, everything was spinning. It was hard for me to figure out who that voice belonged to.

Oh right.

It was Adam's. He's the only one who refers to me as a woman.

I rubbed the left side of my face where Adam had slapped me.

"O- Ow... Jesus, dude..." I mumbled. It was a pretty hard slap.

"Jeez... This isn't like you, Kyle! I've never seen you like this!" Gizzy exclaimed. For a moment I wondered what they meant. Then I noticed how everything was shaking slightly.

An earthquake?

No.

I looked down at my hands. I was trembling.

"Kyle, maybe this is all just too much for you."

"Yeah... You should go home."

"N- No!" I shouted. One of the nurses shushed me. "I- I'm staying here. I have to! I wasn't able to be there for Seto then so now I will!"

Silence.

"...Kyle..." I turned my gaze over to Ty. He looked away from the glass and looked at me dead in the eyes.

Seriously...

Ty was a great guy and all...

But he sure knew how to stare into your soul.

"Answer me this. Would Seto want you to stay here when you're in this state? Or would he want you to go home and get some rest?" My eyes widened at his question. I looked around at everyone, at Seto and Brice, and then back at Ty. My gaze slowly drifted down to the floor.

"Okay..." I mumbled. "You win."


	19. Chapter 19 - Too Late

**Max's POV**

Of course I felt horrible when I ran past the room in which an unconscious Brice and Seto lay. But, as selfish as this sounded, I had a more important thing to attend to.

Today was the day...

Jordan was going to die.

Jordan Finest was going to die.

My brother...was going to die.

_Our _brother, I should say. But Danny's face was emotionless. Even after the doctor shook his head, showing the sign that there was no hope. Mom almost fainted. Dad was trembling from head to toe. It felt like my body was turning ice cold. My heart felt like it had five icicles launched into it. I couldn't feel the numerous sweat drops forming on my forehead. And if it wasn't for my vision turning blurry, I wouldn't have realized I was crying.

But Danny still had that emotionless look. Even as he hugged me, silently trying to calm me down. His lips were completely parallel to each other, forming a straight line. No hint of a frown nor a smile. His eyes looked dead. There was no sign of that chestnut brown glimmered in a sympathetic matter that I loved to see whenever I was sad.

Was this really Danny?

Did he not care about Jordan? Or me? Or mom and dad? Or anyone?

Dammit...

I'm being stupid again, aren't I...?

But even as Danny stared through the glass, watching as a couple nurses tried their best to do anything that might save Jordan, he still had that dead look in his eyes. Jordan looked horrendous. It was like he was literally a skeleton. He was as white as a ghost and all blood and muscle had disappeared from his body leaving his skin to stick to his weak and fragile bones, making it possible to see every single curve, crack, hole, gap and dent that formed his skeleton. Various tubes had been placed into his body. Apparently they were supposed to help him live. They didn't. They just made him look worse. His eyes were closed loosely and his mouth hung slightly open.

_~Flashback~_

"Hey Maxi~!" Jordan's called in a funny tone. I growled.

"Don't call me that." I grumbled.

"Oh pshaw! Everyone knows that the youngest sibling has to have a cute nickname."

"Well you know what? Screw your logic." I turned to him and poked his forehead. "Besides, I'm only younger by like ten minutes..." Jordan placed a hand to his chest as if offended.

"So rude. You should learn to treat the most erotic one out of your two brothers with respect." I grimaced at his statement.

He totally just called himself sexy.

Ew.

"Not until you stop scaring me with those...eight legged freaks of nature...!" I shivered at the memories of Jordan picking up any spider he saw and dropping them in my hair or in my hood.

"But, but, but..." He quivered his lower lip and for a second, I actually thought he was gonna cry. But his fake frown soon transformed into a creepy grin. "It's not my fault. Spiders love crawling all over your body, searching for a place to lay their eggs." As he said that, he began moving his fingers like the legs of a spider up the sides of my waist and making me jump.

"Cut it out!" I squeaked and slapped his hands away. He just giggled menacingly in return.

_~End of Flashback~_

Come to think of it, maybe I should have been nicer to him...

Whenever he'd make me upset, I'd go to Danny and show off how he was better than Jordan. He never really showed that he cared and just put on an extremely over-exaggerating heartbroken expression.

But maybe he really did care.

What if I had hurt his feelings whenever I did that?

What if Jordan doesn't like me?

I never told him that I loved him.

I never treated him as well as I treated Danny.

I never showed my care for him.

And yet as much as he loved to torture me...he cared for me.

Up until now.

He probably hates my guts.

He's probably happy to leave this world. All because of me.

"Jordan..." I whispered as they unplugged the heart monitor. Tears started rapidly pouring down my face. "Jordan...!" I slammed my palms against the glass, Danny not bothering to stop me.

No, no, he can't die yet!

I never got to tell him that I loved him.

I never got to apologize for not treating him as well as I treated Danny or for not showing that I cared about him.

I never even got to say goodbye, dammit!

But I was already proven that I was too late as the heart monitor went flat and the nurses pulled the blanket over Jordan's cold, lifeless face.

And everything around me seemed to freeze and shatter along with my heart.

**Seto's POV**

"You're awake...!" Brice's voice was the first thing I heard when I finally gained consciousness. Shooting my eyes open and adjusting them to the light, I gazed around the quiet room.

I was in the hospital again.

No surprise there.

My gaze eventually landed on the familiar boy with crazy blond hair and brilliant ocean blue eyes that you just can't help, but stare into...

...Or maybe that's just me...

Said teen tilted his head.

"Hm? Are you okay?"

Oh yeah. I was still staring into his eyes.

"I'm fine." I quickly answered while mentally slapping myself. He blinked before smiling warmly, making my heart flutter.

I haven't seen that smile in so long...

Why did I leave him?

Why didn't I tell him?

Why did I just...run away from everyone?

A single tear slid down my right cheek and fell onto the light blue covers. Brice's smile quickly turned to a frown.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong...? You're okay. Everything's fine now. Why are you sad?"

"Brice... I- I'm s- so-" More tears spilled from my eyes as the words got caught in my throat. He had that look in his eyes. The look he'd give me whenever he was about to hug me. Sadly, he couldn't get up. However, our beds were close enough form him to reach out and hold my hand in his.

"Please don't cry, Seto..." I looked up from our connected hands and our eyes met, heat instantly rising to my cheeks. Brice was covered in bandages. As was I. "If there's anything that breaks my heart more than when my pet turtle died, it's seeing you cry." He sat up a bit more straight, leaned closer and used his other hand to gently wipe the tears from my face. I couldn't help, but smile slightly which instantly made his face brighten.

"Thank you...Brice..."

"Anytime." The familiar smile was soon back on his face. Just as he withdrew his hands (to my disappointment), the door practically burst open and in came several familiar faces.

"Jimmy!" Kyle squeaked as he bolted over to my bed and instantly flung his arms around me. I yelped slightly at the sudden action as more friends began to crowd around Brice and I.

Friends...

These are my friends...


	20. Chapter 20 - A True Gift

**Ceco's POV**

"How many times do I have to keep telling you to stop messing with us, bitch...!" The sound of Martin pushing the boy against a locker made me snap out of my thoughts and look up from my feet.

"I- I'm sorry! It was an accident! I'm really clumsy!" He squeaked.

"Eh...?" Martin looked confused for a second. "...Jesus, kid, sounds like puberty hasn't done much for ya." Pomby burst out laughing as the boy's face went red.

"P- Please let me go..." He begged. Martin seemed to examine the boy before huffing.

"Where's that stupid ass green tie you always wear?"

"I- I forgot it at home t- today..."

"Dang. I was gonna use it to strangle you." The boy gulped. "What's your name?" He didn't reply. Baki snatched his notebook and read the name on the cover.

"Dan Cave. How cute."

"Hey guys!" Simon was standing nearby, holding the open door of a locker, which was- no doubt- Dan's. "Let's raid his shit!" He snickered. The others walked over, Martin dragging Dan along and me, being the puppet that I am, following.

"Please don't!" Dan pleaded.

"Ooh, what do we have here~!" Baki pulled out a long tie that was a mixture of different greens. "It seems we have a liar on our hands."

"We don't take too kindly to liars." Pomby waved his finger in Dan's face.

_You don't take too kindly to anyone, dammit!_ I thought to myself. Without even approval from Martin, Simon snatched the tie out of Baki's hands and looped it around Dan's neck. the poor dude tried to squirm free and was about to yell for help when Simon pulled, making him choke on his words. My four _'friends' _laughed at Dan's desperate and failed attempts of thrashing, trying to pull the tie away from his neck and any means of getting air. My eyes widened in terror.

They were actually killing him! Right in the middle of a hallway in school!

It was the end of the day. The whole school was basically empty. This hallway was completely empty except for us. At least that's what we thought until a voice appeared to my left.

"Why are you doing this?" We all turned to its direction at the same time, thinking it was a teacher.

It definitely was not a teacher.

It was a boy. With a turquoise vest, a black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, black fingerless gloves and short dark brown hair. Just by the way he was dressed, you'd think he was tough. But according to the others' laughter, I guess he wasn't.

"Well if it isn't the blind bat. How'd you get here all by yourself?"

"...Let go of whoever you're choking." He said, completely ignoring Martin's question.

"Eh?"

"I'm not stupid. I know the sound of someone choking when I hear it. Let go of them." The four looked at each other before Martin chuckled.

"Noah, right? Just what exactly do you plan on doing if we don't?"

"...Tell everyone."

"...What're you going on about, runt?"

"If you don't stop harassing people, I'm going to tell everyone that you're the ones who lit the park on fire and tried to murder someone." And in that moment, everything seemed to freeze for us.

Someone knew?

This kid new?

Simon slowly loosened his grip on the tie and Dan quickly snatched it back, shoved it in his locker along with his notebook, took his backpack out and slammed his locker shut, locking it. During that time, the five of us were completely frozen in...what I think was fear.

"Just think about it. Because I assure you I will not hesitate to go to the police station and report you all. Just stop hurting my friends and I promise that your little secret will be safe with me."

"Dan!" Another voice appeared. A boy in all black and a purple and golden amulet came jogging towards the terrified boy. Dan quickly wrapped his arms around the amulet guy's arm as if it was a life line. "What did they..." He turned to the blind boy.

"Noah...?"

"Taylor...?" Noah turned his head to where he thought Taylor was, reaching a hand out. Taylor gently grabbed Noah's hand and glared at the five of us.

"Let's go..." He said before leading the two downstairs.

I couldn't believe it. None of us could.

Our fate was basically in the hands of a blind dude.

**Ty's POV**

"I spy with my little eye...something that is...fluffy and adorable." Adam said. I stood up from my lying position on the grass and looked around.

"Hmm... Jerome's hat?" I questioned as my eyes landed on the teen with the big-eared chewbacca hat playing with his cru- friend, Mitch in the distance.

"Dammit!" Adam sat up from his lying position beside me. "You're too good at this game!" I laughed. He pouted before slowly starting to frown.

"...Everything alright?"

"...Jordan died, Ty." He explained rather bluntly. He turned to look at me in the eyes. "Remember? The triplets?" My eyes widened and I felt a pang in my heart.

"O- Oh..." I responded, staring down at the grass between my fingers.

Since the park was kinda burned down, a lot of us at school started hanging out at these wide open plains near the outskirts of town. Sure it wasn't as close as the park, but it was just as good. If not, better.

"Hey. Uhh, Seto...?" Brice's distant voice suddenly gets our attention. We looked down from our spot on a hill to see Brice and Seto standing and just sorta talking. I remembered meeting the short brunette for the first time at the hospital. It was like instant friendship. Which was rather shocking for everyone since apparently Seto was very anti-social and did not like talking to strangers. Anyway, Adam and I quickly lied down on our stomachs and watched intently. the hill wasn't that high, but they still didn't notice us.

"Hmm?" Seto tilted his head.

"I- I was wondering if...maybe you'd like to go somewhere with me...? Like just the two of us?" Brice repetitively scratched the back of his neck. There was a moment of silence, Adam and I grinning like freaks, before Seto's eyes slightly widened.

"Wait... Are you suggesting that we go on a d- _date_...?"

"W- Well, n- not if you don't want to, I mean, it doesn't have to be a date, I- I mean...!" I couldn't help, but let a small snicker. You didn't even have to look at their faces to know that they were blushing hardcore. "'C- Cause...I- I know you don't...well, I just though-"

"Brice...!"

"Y- Yes...?" Brice's voice cracked, making Seto slightly giggle. He gently held Brice's hand in his.

"I would love to."

"Wh- What...?"

"You heard me. I said I would love to go on a date with you." Brice's expression was complete shock before a huge grin spread across his face. I looked at Adam to see him holding his phone.

"You wouldn't dare." I whispered, snickering.

"Watch me." he whispered back before taking a picture of Brice and Seto's moment. A light reflected off their eyes and they instantly turned to see us up on the hill. "Oh shit, I forgot to turn the flash off...!" Adam exclaimed. The two lovebirds' surprised expressions quickly turned to rage.

"You little...!" Brice clenched his fists, his face red. "H- How long were you two there...?!"

"Oh, long enough..." I answered. There was painful silence before Brice took off in a fast run towards us.

"Shit, run!" Adam squealed. I was already running down the other side of the hill.

"Give me the fucking phone!" Brice roared. He was actually pretty terrifying when he was pissed.

"You can't catch me!" Adam yelled.

Just the thought of my best friend and I being hunted down by another friend gave me a feeling of happiness.

The kind of happiness that you only have when you know you're surrounded by forever lasting friends.

I guess you could say that I'm rather lucky.

Because friends like these only come once in a lifetime.

And to have so many of these friend is more than just luck.

It is a true gift.

_**~The End~**_


	21. Epilogue

_~2 Months Later~_

**Brice's POV**

"Okay, Brice. I'm headin' out. The house is yours for tonight." My brother, Carlos, exclaimed as he headed out the door. I grunted in response, being too distracted by the show I was watching. "Make sure you and your little boyfriend don't do any naughty business on the couch. I'd like to keep it clean, thank you." My expression turned sour and I slowly turned my head to stare at him.

"Ha. Ha. That was so funny, I forgot to laugh." I stated dryly.

"You just laughed."

"Get the hell outta here already!" I grabbed the nearest thing on the coffee table, which was a coaster, and threw it at him. With a laugh, he sprinted out of the door and slammed it shut. I got back into my comfortable position and sighed. My parents and all of my siblings were out doing their own stuff tonight. So this was the perfect opportunity to invite Seto over.

About ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I jumped off the couch and speed walked towards the door. Opening the door, I was half expecting to see Seto and half expecting to see one of my siblings who has either forgotten something or whatever they were doing was cancelled. Thankfully it was Seto.

"Hey there, cutie." I greeted with an awfully wide grin.

"Hello, Brice." He walked in and took his shoes off. I closed the door behind him and gently held his hand, leading him into the living room.

Seto and I had been dating for two months now. It was definitely a lot more than just a crush. And this was the first time he'd ever visited.

"This sure is a big house." He stated. I chuckled.

"Yeah... So did you ask your parents about sending you back to Kogyo High?" I asked. He frowned slightly and nodded.

"Yeah. They said no at first, but after I begged and pleaded they said that they would think about it. So there's a bout a 20% chance I'll return to school." He explained. I sighed.

"Bummer... Maybe I can get one of my sisters to talk your parents into it, They're pretty good at that kind of stuff. Even if they've never met."

"...How many siblings did you say you had again?"

"Nine."

Seto blinked.

"Nine...?" He repeated. I nodded.

"Including a twin brother."

"You have a twin?"

"Yup. But we're fraternal."

"Jeez, Brice. Why don't you tell me these things?" I shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess it just never came to mind." I explained as we both sat down on the couch.

"Well as long as it's just you and I right now..." He half spoke half whispered. I smiled warmly and turned to look at him, our eyes meeting.

This was the Seto that I first met.

Light peach skin, not pale.

Sparkling irises that shimmered and almost seemed to swirl with different shades of brown. Not dead looking eyes with bags underneath.

And soft lips formed into an adorable looking smile rather than a sorrowful frown.

This was the Seto that I had started falling for a long time ago.

**Adam's POV**

"So has Ty confessed his love to you yet?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Don't act all innocent. You've been using your boyish charm to attract Ty and it's obviously been working."

"What the flying fuck are you two going on about?" I placed my hands on my hips and stared at my two friends with an annoyed expression. Tyler and Kyle glanced at each other and grinned.

"Girl, you know damn well what we're talkin' 'bout." Tyler snapped his fingers sassily.

"You guys are so...I can't even think of a word that would describe you two. Ty and I are just friends. Simply. Friends."

"Suuuuure." Tyler rolled his eyes. "And my aunt Janet is actually my daughter in-law." I sighed.

Did they seriously not believe me?

Did they actually think we were into each other?

"I can just imagine it now." Kyle let out an exaggerating sigh. "Adam is lying down in a field of fresh grass and dandelions. The sun is shining, the sky is a bright blue, barely any clouds in the sky and a gentle breeze. Everything is perfect. Suddenly, a shadow looms over Adam who has his eyes closed. He opens them to see Ty's beautiful face with his silky light brown side bangs only letting you see one of his two gorgeous mahogany eyes. Adam sits up as Ty moves his face closer and closer towards him, their lips almost touching and then-"

The next thing I knew, Kyle's face was about three centimeters away from mine. I quickly grabbed the nearest pillow and shoved it into his face. The pink haired teen fell backwards with what looked like a dazed expression.

"How about you stop fantasizing about Ty and I?" I grumbled.

"Oh you know you love him." Tyler cooed. I let out a defeated groan and planted my face into the pillow.

"Remind me not to ever invite you guys over for a sleepover again." I mumbled through the pillow.

**Max's POV**

I sighed as I stared at my reflection in the water.

Life had been extremely difficult for me. And only me it seemed. No matter what my friends did, they just couldn't manage to cheer me up. Depression's a bitch. I remember when I first heard of depression. I said to myself that I'd be the last person on Earth to go through something like that.

Now look at me.

Of course our parents were heartbroken, but they manage to pull through. They always do.

But Danny...

He still has yet to shed a single tear.

It's like it never happened. He's having fun with our friends and everything. How is he able to smile? How is he able to laugh? Did he just never like Jordan?

Did he hate him?

"Max...?" I looked up from my glass of water and at Mom. "I know...these past couple months have been extremely hard for you. But Your father and I have been thinking. Would you like it if you had a new brother?"

I blinked.

"A...new...brother...?" I repeated. She nodded.

"I know it wouldn't be the same. No one can replace Jordan. But just think about it. We're planning on visiting the orphanage next weekend." She explained. I slowly nodded and stared back down at my water as she got up out of her seat and walked away.

A new brother?

Could this be what I needed?

I could treat him the way I never got to treat Jordan.

I could care for him, tell him that I loved him, I could actually be a good brother for once.

Of course he would never be able to replace Jordan, but...

Yes. This is exactly what I needed.

A second chance.

**Martin's POV**

Fucking blind little faggot and his fucking little threat.

I can't hurt anyone. I can't mess with anyone. I can't harass anyone.

What the hell was this bullshit?

But I can't risk going to jail.

None of us can.

Ceco doesn't seem to be as worried as the rest of us. He's probably a fucking traitor. No wonder he always seems to have sympathy for any bitches we mess with.

Everyone thought that we had become soft.

Some people even started making fun of _us_!

What the fuck is that shit?

Those little squirts that are in every corner of this damn school? Making fun of _us_?

Making fun of _me_?

_I don't fucking think so!_

Pulling open my drawer, I yanked out a yearbook that Simon mugged from one kid. I quickly flipped through the pages, trying to find Noah's school photo and sat on my bed. Finding it, I grabbed a pair of scissors on my nightstand and cut his picture out. Throwing the book and the scissors to the floor I ripped his ugly face in half with my bare hands.

Have I lost it?

Nah.

Maybe I was grinning and giggling, but that was nothing.

I probably just needed some fresh air.

So I walked out of my house, ignoring that annoying old hag that I call my dad and went for a walk.

Hmm... I think this was the first time i had ever been on a walk without _them _accompanying me. That did not make me feel good as most of the time, I felt like I was being followed. I even heard footsteps a few times behind me. But every time I looked, fucking nothing.

Eventually I walked into the alleyway that we'd always hang out in. It was nice and quiet. Maybe I should've grabbed a cigarette or something. Suddenly, those familiar damn footsteps came back. There was someone behind me. No doubt. I could see their shadow that slowly rose with the sunset. I was expecting it to be Pomby as that freak somehow always manages to find me and follow me. But when I turned around, I was met with...

No...

God, no...!

I slowly raised my arm and pointed at him.

"Y- _You_...! How the fuck are you here?! You're supposed to be dea-" he quickly grabbed me by the jacket, lifted me up and slammed my back against the brick wall of a house.

"I guess I came back from the dead. Decided to pay my old pals a visit..." His dark sinister voice was as cold as ever, sending a chill up my spine.

He was back.

**_~To Be Continued...?~_**


End file.
